Sympathy For The Devil
by trenity170
Summary: It was not a dark and stormy night, much to the chargrin of one evil being, but not that it mattered. Something wicked this way comes, and there'll be Hell to pay.
1. In which a bird dies

**Disclaimer:** I do not own any Yu Yu Hakusho characters, nor do I own the Catholic Religion. I also do not own any of the songs by the Rolling Stones. Thank you.

_-But who prays for Satan? Who, in eighteen centuries, has had the common humanity to pray for the one sinner who needed it most? - Mark Twain _

It was not a dark and stormy night. There was no lightning in the sky or some violent winds or some other atmospheric enhancers of the sort. In fact, it was perfectly calm. A crescent moon hung in an otherwise unblemished sky, not a cloud was in sight. A bird was even singing.

Gliding down a thin ribbon of a country road was a car. Not just any car though, as the driver was not just any man. The moon reflected off the perfectly polished hood and flowed off like water as it moved silently through the calm night. Perched upon the edge of the hood, just above the pure silver grill, was a small figure. Drenched in starlight it was the figure of a woman, clad in a flowing dress, her arms thrown back in pure joy. The Rolls-Royce made its way around another curve in the road and the driver sighed.

Frustrated with the perfectly peaceful evening, the man groaned, pressing his foot against the gas pedal a little harder. Of course, for every one evil being with a good background of ominous weather, there were hundreds of other evil beings with blue skies and cotton ball clouds. Even though he knew this, it still aggravated him. Giving up, he sighed again, his shoulders slumping.

Besides the bird's sleepy song and a small chorus of crickets, it was quiet. Another peaceful night in Japan. Grumbling dark words, one manicured hand tapped against the radio's "ON" button, not bothering to change the station from its original place.

"_Please allow me to introduce myself/ I'm a man of wealth and taste/I've been around for a long, long year/Stole many a man's soul and faith/And I was 'round when Jesus Christ/Had his moment of doubt and pain/Made damn sure that Pilate/Washed his hands and sealed his fate/ Pleased to meet you/Hope you guess my name/But what's puzzling you/Is the nature of my game"_

The lyrics blared out of the speakers, filling the lush cabin of the car with drums, piano and a rough male voice. Nodding his head along to the beat, he smiled. This was more like it. Easing his weight a little harder against the gas, he turned the wheel, maneuvering around another ambling curve, his hands moving in fluid motions.

"_I stuck around St. Petersburg/When I saw it was a time for a change/Killed the czar and his ministers/Anastasia screamed in vain/I rode a tank/Held a general's rank/When the blitzkrieg raged/And the bodies stank/Pleased to meet you/Hope you guess my name, oh yeah/Ah, what's puzzling you/Is the nature of my game, oh yeah"_

Removing one hand from the wheel, he ran his fingers through his hair, sending ripples though the golden locks. Shining eerily in the moonlight, it almost gave him the impression of a halo. In fact, at first glance, one could easily mistake the man for some kind of ethereal creature from a fairytale. Piercing eyes with the same hues as a glacier, and just as much warmth, stared off into the night, cutting through the shadows effortlessly behind a thick frame of black lashes. His pale skin seemed to glow softly, the only color coming from the slight rosy blush on his delicate cheekbones. Resting on the very tip of his thin nose was a pair of small, rectangular reading glasses, framed in black steel, over which he stared at the road, lit only by his headlights. Shoulder length and pulled away from his face by a thick black band was hair the color of ripened wheat, rouge bangs framing his face in soft curls. Licking his lips absentmindedly he began to hum along with the song that flooded his car.

"_I watched with glee/While your kings and queens/Fought for ten decades/  
For the gods they made/I shouted out/Who killed the Kennedy's/When after all/It was you and me/Let me please introduce myself/I'm a man of wealth and taste/And I laid traps for troubadours/Who get killed before they reached Bombay/Pleased to meet you/Hope you guessed my name, oh yeah/But what's puzzling you/Is the nature of my game, oh yeah, get down, baby"_

Grinning mischievously he now sung aloud with the Rolling Stones, his voice striking perfect cords, his slender fingers drumming against the leather coated steering wheel. Beating out the bass line, he had almost forgotten about the bitter disappointment of having arrived during such a serene night. In fact, he was beginning to enjoy it. Not a bad way to start your vacation, though he still wouldn't complain if maybe one or two clouds rolled into the sky.

"_Pleased to meet you/Hope you guessed my name, oh yeah/But what's confusing you/Is just the nature of my game/Just as every cop is a criminal/And all the sinners saints/As heads is tails/Just call me Lucifer/'cause I'm in need of some restraint/So if you meet me/Have some courtesy/Have some sympathy, and some taste/Use all your well-learned politesse/Or I'll lay your soul to waste, um yeah/Pleased to meet you/Hope you guessed my name, um yeah/But what's puzzling you/Is the nature of my game, um mean it, get down"_

Just as the lyrics began to reach their crazed wailing something jittered on the passenger's seat next to the man. Groaning, he switched the radio off, frowning slightly at his cell phone which was dancing around the black leather seat trying urgently to get his attention. Muttering dark curse words to whoever was calling him he picked it up, unfolding the wafer thin gizmo and holding it against his left ear, the silver hoop piercing running through it clicking against the keys.

"'ello," his voice was smooth as butter, deep undertones wrapping warmly around each word.

"Don't you 'ello' me, what are you doing here?"

The voice coming through the tiny speakers sound rushed, annoyed and rather childish. It was also in Japanese. Scowling for a moment, the man replied briskly is the same foreign language, each word flowing effortlessly through soft lips.

"Oh my, I've been found, haven't I? To what do I owe the honor of this phone call?"

Though his voice was amiable enough, a minor look of annoyance flashed across his perfect features. He was hoping for a quiet break, not something as frustrating as having to explain why he wanted one in the first place.

"You know exactly what I'm calling for, so don't even try to act innocent. Japan is OFF-LIMITS to you! What part of that don't you understand?"

"Don't patronize me, I understand perfectly. I just don't care."

Smirking, he knew his flippant remark would make the caller only angrier. Personally, he really didn't mind, there was still a chance he could catch the end of that song…

"Whether or not you care is not part of the problem. Where exactly are you in Japan?"

"Hm? I've only been here a short amount of time and you expect me to know the geography already? Who do you think I am, God?"

There was an un-amused silence that lingered until he started to speak again, turning his head slightly to look out the window, his pupils dilating quickly to make up for the pure darkness outside.

"Huh, well if you must know, I'm driving through the hills and there's such a cute little city nearby, I think I'll stop there in the morning, get something to drink."

He could almost see the speaker begin to panic, trying to figure out just what city he was talking about. Laughing quietly to himself, he pulled the car over, the wheels crunching against gravel, his bumper stopping just before the steel guardrails. Pressing the release button on his seatbelt he got out of the car, slammed the door and leaned up against the hood, free hand tucked into the pocket of his clean black slacks.

"Where the Hell are you?" though the speaker on the other line was technically asking a question, it sounded far too much like an order for the man's taste.

"Certainly not there! Of course, if I told you, you most certainly wouldn't lean anything from this experience now would you?"

Grinning from ear to ear, he let the cool breeze wash over his skin, tugging gently at his clothes like an insistent child. Pushing his bangs away from his eyes he waited for a response. It didn't take long.

"If you do not leave, I will be forced to send people after you!"

This only made him laugh. It was a pleasant laugh, deep, making his entire body shake in delight as he nearly doubled over. Gasping for breath, he leaned back, nearly dropped the phone onto the rough gray gravel below, catching it last minute. Placing it back to his ear, he began to contemplate buying one of those fancy headsets, but didn't get very far before the voice spoke again.

"Just WHAT exactly is so funny?"

"You, that's what so funny. Was that a threat coming from you? Child, you still have a Binky! Get rid of that thing, and maybe I'll take you seriously. In the mean time, don't mess with me; I'm far older than you'll ever be."

Deciding to take a casual stroll around his car he waited for the response that he knew was going to come. In the meantime, he searched for that infernal bird, it was nearby, and he knew it. His eyes scanning the sparse trees, he was searching for anything even vaguely feathered.

"My age has nothing to do with the fact that you are NOT ALLOWED HERE!"

Pulling the speaker away from his ear and slightly, he could image that young, toddler like face tinting crimson in anger. Snickering, a jagged, bird shaped leaf burst into flames. Seeing that it was not the annoying feathered fiend of cheerful song, he frowned slightly and began his search anew.

"Damn…" he muttered, disappointedly.

"What are you swearing about now!"

"Huh? Oh, nothing… just where is that little bugger?"

"WHAT 'little bugger'?"

Pulled forcefully back into the conversation, he realized that he was indeed still talking on the phone. Sighing, he thought about what to say.

"A bird… it's been bugging me…"

"A bird?" the man sounded incredulous, saying the word slowly. "You're upset over a bird?"

"Yes, Yes." Still distracted, he heard the happy little tune fill the air once again.

"You are… so…"

"Frustrating? Annoying? Maddening? Those are the ones I've heard most often," he added helpfully, nodding his head along with each word.

"The fact that you know this should be sign to you," the voice added dryly.

"Aw, that's just mean, Koenma!" he protested, though his serious tone was ruined by laughter.

"Just… please… GET OUT OF JAPAN!" There was an odd desperation Koenma's voice and the man sighed, bored.

His attention span long since lost with the conversation, he yawned, pinned the phone to his ear with his shoulder as he stretched his arms out above him. Deciding that, since the conversation was back where it started and had successfully completed a circled (more of an oval really), it must end.

"What? What did you say?" not waiting for a response he quickly added in one word. "Sorrybadreceptiongottagolosingyou!" Snapping the phone angrily shut he turned it off and shoved it down the left pocket of his warm suit coat.

"Dammit… that was boring…" he muttered.

Heaving himself off the car's hood and back onto his feet, he swayed unsure for a moment before regaining balance and sighing appreciatively. Strolling slowly back to the left side of the car he opened the door and slipped back into the plush seat. Folding his long legs into the cabin, gently tapping his right foot against the thin gas pedal and pulled the car into reverse, stopping for a moment to check out what was on the radio. He was deeply disappointed as some pop princess' voice danced out the car's speakers. Disgustedly slamming his fist against the thick on/off button of the radio, he sighed in relief as silence filled the car. Blessing under his breath he pulled back from the steel guard rails of the road and drove off, into the city, silent as ever.

On the third branch of an oak, the only bird singing that night burst into a cloud of feathers.

The man grinned victoriously.

-Well that's it. Please Review and tell me what you think. Thanks! _  
_


	2. In which the boys get warned

**Note**: Reviews will be answered at the end of his chapter.

_-Edgar: The Prince of Darkness is a gentleman – Shakespeare_

In the Human Realm it was a beautiful night, one of many in an otherwise turbulent spring. In the Spirit Realm, it was by far a different matter. Columns of paperwork had spilled off the top of a sturdy oak desk, waiting to be read, stamped and sent off to the proper departments. Occasionally another stack would be brought in, though the person in charge of the paperwork had yet to have noticed. In fact, someone had just hung up on him, falsely claiming bad reception even though he knew that the phone service never lost reception. That was mainly due to the fact that the service didn't exist, the speaker had never once paid a phone bill. Sitting in an armchair vaguely too large him, was what appeared to be a toddler. A comically large hat was wrapped snugly around his head, just above two letters reading "Jr". Tired eyes stared blankly at the lofty mountains of paper before there was a slight knock on his door and a pleasant voice.

"Um, sorry to interrupt but we just arrived back and I was curious if… Goodness, are you alright, Koenma? You look awful."

The toddler, Koenma, snapped out of his short reverie, yawning loudly. A teal pacifier hung precariously off his lower lip, threatening to fall to the filthy floor, but oddly enough not. This was the son of King Enma, a Japanese God of the dead, formally called Lord Enma Jr, but called Koenma by people who didn't really take him all that seriously; embarrassingly, this was just about everybody he knew.

"Huh? What did you say?" asked Koenma, one eye twitching in exhaustion.

"I asked if you were alright… we're going to be heading home. Perhaps you should get some rest," the voice replied.

Even though Koenma could not see the speaker, he already knew what the young man looked like. As usual, he would most likely still be dressed in his school's uniform, magenta with gold trim, and rose red hair would fall messily his face. Eyebrows would be knitted in worry over large, expressive green eyes that glinted in the light like precious jewels.

"I'll be fine… just dealing with a…" he wondered how he could describe the man he was talking to moment ago, "… a pest. That's all. Go ahead and get some rest, Kurama."

Nodding his head, the young man named Kurama turned quietly on his heel and left, still glancing over his shoulder once in worry before shaking his head to clear his mind.

"Just… a… pest…" Koenma groaned, burying his face in his arms, knowing that tomorrow he would have to send his spirit detectives after the man. In the mean time, he'd let them sleep. He sure as Hell wouldn't get any.

Morning came quickly, seemingly defying all restraints of time. Most people even described that morning as evil. Now, evil had nothing to do with it, as evil has better things to do than mess with clocks, such as tempt people, cause tax audits or make people lose reception on their cell phones.

Rising slowly, the Sun had just begun to make its way over the bright blue of Japan's sky. Already, four people were awake, their sleep patterns shattered by loud ringing noises. Though the sky was bright blue in Japan, where the four awake teens were currently located, it was anything but. Outside in the Spirit Realm, the sky was a stormy navy, clouds the color of granite boiled above. Occasionally, lightning cut across the sky ominously. One of the teens was the red haired Kurama from the night before, now wearing a pair of jeans and a loose t-shirt tucked into the waist of the pants, and he now stood in front of Koenma's desk noting the fact that the paperwork hadn't reduced yet and if anything, had grown. Sighing, he fought back a yawn, making his eyes squeeze shut for a moment before opening.

"Hey, Koenma, ya in there?" one of Kurama's companions asked, trying to see through the paperwork.

The speaker was tall, his curly hair the color of carrots teased into a ridiculous pompadour. High, well defined cheek bones were emphasized by small, squinted eyes on sallow skin. He was your average high school punk and he looked exhausted, dressed in a pair of paint spattered jeans and a dirty baseball jersey from his favorite team.

In a muffled voice, Koenma replied from somewhere behind the paper towers.

"Yes, Kuwabara, I am in here!"

One of the stacks moved slightly to the left and they could just barely see the boyish face of their employer, though the term boyish was used lightly.

"Holy cow, how did all of this paperwork build up?" one of the other young men breathed. Standing next to the orange haired giant, Kuwabara, was a young man dressed in jeans and a white tank top, his black hair gelled back so fiercely that it seemed to be tinted green. Large chocolate colored eyes scanned the mess and he whistled lowly, shoving his hands into the pockets of his old jean jacket.

"Should we help him out?" Kuwabara muttered over to his companions and at last the shortest of their group responded.

"Hn, if you ask me, he should stay there," he muttered off darkly. Standing with his legs just barely apart, braced against the floor like any fighter, was a young man, rather child like in appearance, though appearances had little to do with him. Eyes the color of a well aged red wine seemed to glow with the traces of annoyance and something vaguely more sinister. Dressed entirely in black, the rather gothic motif was added to by his hair, which was spiked on his head, defying gravity. Hidden under the rather large cloak was his trademark sword.

"Good to see you're on my side, Hiei," Koenma muttered off dryly, maneuvering so he could see his spirit detectives a little better and cleared his throat for their attention.

"As it would seem, I need you to do something very important. Consider it pest control if you must, but needless to say, we need this man out of Japan fast. I don't know WHAT he could do, and that'll only get me in more trouble with my dad…" Koenma trailed off the last bit, his mind painfully remembering his father's punishments.

"Pest control?" All four said, though each with their own tone.

"Yes, that's truthfully the best way to describe him…" Koenma trailed off the last part and as soon as he fell silent Kuwabara picked the conversation back up as usual with a question.

"Does he have a name?"

"Of course he has a name, you moron…" Hiei muttered off, getting a warning glance from Kurama.

"Well… He does have a name…" Again Koenma dropped the conversation quickly as it seemed to be his new habit.

"And that name would be…?" Yusuke decided he wasn't going to quit until he got answer. Koenma, realizing this, knew there was no easy way out.

"I wouldn't be able to tell you if I tried. He's got too many count," Koenma explained tersely.

"Than perhaps just one would do," Kurama added helpfully, hoping to at least get one question answered.

"Hm…" Koenma thought about, trying to figure out which one seemed… more human and finally decided, "Lucas, that's what he called himself at one point."

There was an odd choking noise coming from the two humans of the group as they tried to stifle the laughter that was creepy traitorously up their throats, only contained by tightly pursed lips. Deciding to spare his partners from their suffering, Kurama had to say it.

"Lucas?" There was obvious disbelief in his voice.

"Yes, Lucas," Koenma replied and he squeezed his eyes shut, bracing himself for what he knew was going to happen anyway, no matter how quiet his spirit detectives were trying to be.

Three… Two… One… it happened, starting with Yusuke, who's inward sniggering was forcing itself to the surface until it burst forth with loud, raucous laughter that seemed to fill the room. Quickly following was Kuwabara, whose pale face was now the same hue as a fresh tomato, his small eyes squeezed shut in mirth.

"Stop laughing both of you! While THIS name might be, well, to be perfectly honest, pathetically lame, HE is NOT!" Koenma warned them, wishing, not for the first time, that those two humans had just a bit, mind you just a bit, more mature. Was it really too much to ask?

Though he was trying his hardest to get through to his detectives, he knew it was basically pointless. Sighing, he leaned back in his chair, waiting for the two to stop their rather girlish giggling. Finally, if not slowly, it dwindled down to silence and Yusuke asked the next question.

"So… why exactly should we be so afraid of this… Lucas…." He sniggered at this, "well, this person anyway? Can't be much harder than some of the bad guys we've fought before."

"Trust me, he is far worse than any of the bad guys you have faced so far," Koenma replied, trying to remain calm though his mind began to wander to the first time he had met the man.

"How 'bout a description? We can't go around to every person in Japan askin' if their name is Lucas," Kuwabara reasoned, realizing that it would probably take a long time and there was that new game he got that he really wanted to play. If they could get this done fast, you certainly wouldn't hear him complaining.

"Description… right… well, last time I saw him he was just a little taller than you, Kuwabara, with blonde hair that fell past his waist…" Koenma bit his lip, trying to remember how the man had looked and remembered another thing, "He always has blue eyes and looks European or American.

"Great, THAT won't be hard to find in Japan," Yusuke muttered, "Foreign exchange students are EVERYWHERE. It'll be like lookin' for a needle in a haybin."

Kurama cocked an eyebrow at the awkward phrase.

"Don't you mean 'hay stack'?" he asked politely.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever."

"It doesn't matter. Just find him, get him out, and DON'T fight him. No matter what, alright?" Koenma had meant for this statement to be final but saw Yusuke open his mouth and quickly blurt out what was on his mind, which honestly isn't much.

"No fightin'? What th' Hell? Why do you not want us to fight? I mean, what if he doesn't want to leave peacefully!"

The very idea of pacifism seemed to petrify Yusuke as he took a step toward Koenma to get his point across, slicing one hand through the air for a quick effect.

"I mean it, Yusuke. You have no idea how powerful this man is. Fighting against him is like committing Suicide. If he chooses not to leave peacefully, get out of the fight in everyway possible," Koenma warned gravely, giving Yusuke a warning glare as he opened his mouth to protest. "I mean it. Now, go out and find him, alright?"

Each one of them feeling differently about this mission, the four headed out back to Japan in search of the villain named Lucas…

"I don't like this idea," Yusuke moaned as the spirit detectives stepped into a café, each taking a seat around the small square table.

"Seems dumb if you ask me," Kuwabara added, nodding his head along with his friend's comment as Kurama got up to order drinks at the counter.

"I mean, not fightin' a bad guy? That seems… pointless. I mean, what're we gonna do, politely ask 'em to leave?"

"Perhaps a bit of pacifism would be good for you two," Kurama added as he made his way back to the table, four drinks clutched awkwardly to his body.

"Here, let me help with that," Kuwabara offered, taking two of the drinks, his own and Yusuke's, before he added his own two cents again. "But even you have to admit, it seems a bit pointless. What self respecting bad guy will just leave when you ask?"

Sighing, Kurama sank into the wood chair and blew on the cup full of tea before he took a deep breath and replied.

"I didn't say it made sense. I just said that pacifism _could_ do you some good."

"What exactly are you getting at?" Yusuke asked, vaguely threateningly, as he leaned across the table.

"Oh my… I'm not getting out of this one, am I?" Kurama mused slightly, smiling exasperatedly to himself before defending himself from the two school punks.

Oddly, nobody noticed that the fourth member of the group, Hiei, had remained quiet. But then again, they really just dismissed him as being mood as usual, which he partially was, but that was not the only thing that was on his dark little mind. Staring dourly at the hot cup of black tea in his bandaged hands, he remained, for the most part, ignored. Secretly, this was how he preferred it.

There was a click as the door to the café opened and someone stepped in.

Normally as loud as any little coffee shop, the boisterous crowd that frequented it suddenly became hushed, each stopping their conversation mid sentence, and in some cases mid word, and they each stared at their drinks, food, or newspapers respectively. This odd phenomenon of silence did not go unnoticed by the four spirit detectives as Kuwabara suddenly shivered. Every muscle in his body felt oddly tense, cold and the entire room felt… dead. Not a single aura could be sensed, just a vast nothingness.

The soft thumping of boots on tile suddenly filled the quiet and all but Hiei looked at the door.

Striding confidently in was a man, tall, with blonde hair that shone in the light, giving him the vague impression of a halo or some other nimbus. Pale, perfect skin seemed to glow just barely but it could have been from the contrast of the dark clothing. Sitting delicately on the tip of his thin nose, the man stared over a pair of thin reading glasses with eyes of the palest blue. Moving with a liquid sort of grace, his sleek form was covered in a long black trench coat, bedecked with enough buckles to make any hardcore gothic jealous, and they could see it was worn over what appeared to be a fine suit, the neck unbuttoned to reveal a surprisingly slender neck for a man.

Strolling smoothly to the counter, he pulled one hand out of his pocket, a credit card held between his fore and middle finger, his hand delicately manicured.

"I'd like a cup of coffee please."

When he spoke, his voice was smooth enough to make every girl in the café sigh longingly to themselves, or the shyer of the bunch blush a fantastic shade of burgundy. The waitress herself was not entirely immune as her highly glossed lips curved into a coy little smile.

"How would you like it then?" the tone in her voice suggesting something more than coffee, though the man acted like he didn't notice.

"Dark as night, hot as hell and sweet as sin," he replied, smirking at her as she took the credit card from his fingers, her own brushing against his for a moment. They were icy cold to the touch and made the girl for an instant think of ice, though the man looked more like some otherworldly creature out of a fantasy novel.

"Just the way we make it," she replied, oddly disturbed by the coldness of his touch.

He waited for a second, drumming his long fingers against the counter until the came back with the cup and nodded his head politely, taking back his credit card. Turning slightly on his heel he made his way to the only empty table in the café which was shoved next to the window with one lone chair, though nobody cold remember it being there a few seconds ago.

As soon as he sat back down the noise began again, but the cold dread that filled the room didn't leave, making Kuwabara still shiver despite the heat.

"Do any of you guys sense… that…" he whispered over, trying to remain silent so the man wouldn't hear.

"Sense what?" Yusuke asked, blowing a little steam off his coffee before taking a sip and abruptly burning his tongue.

"I… I can't sense anythin'… I think that guy has somthin' to do with it," Kuwabara replied, leaning across the table so they could hear him better.

"Yes… I must agree, it's… dead in here all of a sudden," Kurama added, taking long swig of his tea and sighing warmly.

There was a clink as the man put down his drink and walked to a middle aged woman who was sitting with a few of her other middle aged friends and promptly took the newspaper out of her hands. She didn't notice a thing, or if she did she acted like nothing was wrong, even though the paper she was just reading was now being carried off to the table near the window with the tall, blonde man. In fact, nobody did anything. Leaning back in the wooden chair, the man flicked the paper open with practiced ease and proceeded to read something, though his eyes didn't seem to move.

"Okay… THAT was creepy," Yusuke stated, and their table fell silent, an uneasy silence permeating their table like a fog.

After what seemed like an eternity the man got up, left his drink, returned the paper and made their way to the table occupied by the detectives. Trying desperately to act like they didn't notice, or didn't care they waited in suspense until he reached them, leaning against the wood top, his long fingers delicately resting on their tips, taking the weight expertly. He sighed and smiled calmly at them, though none of the warmth reached his eyes which remained as cold and cruel as ever.

"Good day…I realize what exactly you are doing, and I ask you, kindly, to leave me alone," though his words were as smooth as silk, threats seemed to be threaded through each letter, daring them to say that they weren't going to leave him alone.

Deciding that in front of regular humans they should act normal, Kurama decided to try and get him to leave.

"What exactly are you talking about?"

"You know what I'm talking about, Shuichi, or should I was Kurama? What exactly is a demon like you doing here of all places? Playing human are we?" He sounded innocent but it only managed to mock them. Kurama bristled, his eyes darting around.

"Oh, don't worry about them, they won't hear a damn word," the man reassured.

"An' how do you know that?" Yusuke challenged, hissing out his words.

"Simple. Because I don't want them to hear," he replied, waving a hand casually through the air as though this were a normal conversation.

"You're Lucas, aren't you?" Kurama asked, putting down his drink to try and stare the man in the eyes. It didn't seem to work as every time he attempted, his eyes would avert out of sheer discomfort. There was something in those eyes, an odd mixture of cruelty and childlike delight that made them shine oddly in the light, as though small blue fires burned behind each pupil.

"Oh, is that what that child said? Yes, very well, I have been called Lucas before… and many other things," again he smiled as though remembering something that he was particularly fond of.

"Then… please, leave," Kuwabara managed to get that out before the lump in his throat prevented him from saying anything further.

"I will leave when I want, though you are welcome to try and make me… Alas, I must leave you four… though I will see you again… perhaps not you, Hiei. You wouldn't want me to go back on our deal, would you?" With that he walked off, leaving the café quickly. As soon as he had stepped back outside the warmth returned to the small room.

"What was that…?" Kuwabara breathed, looking around as the woman with the newspaper suddenly noticed that it was in her other hand.

"I… I don't know," Kurama trailed off, his mind wandering now, trying to figure out just how the man knew their names…

Outside, "Lucas" made a slight face as he walked down the street across from the café. Oh how he hated people who ruin vacations. He was hoping that he wouldn't have to do any work while he was here… now he was basically forced to. Shoving his hands deeper into his trench coat's pockets, the strolled off whistling to himself mainly, passing by a cute couple on a bench.

Casually flicking his wrist at them, by the time he passed they were fighting, as suddenly the girlfriend knew about all the cheating he had done on her with her own best friend.

He whistled just a little louder, he strolled past staring at the perfect blue skies.

He might just enjoy Japan after all….

Tren: Well well well, lookie here, I finished another chapter!

Keichi: I think the readers can tell that by now…

Tren: Oh btw, this is Keichi, my muse, split personality and character in my fanfic "All in the family" Read it!

Keichi: Shameless promotion of your stories? How the mighty have fallen... (Shakes head and goes to lie down on couch)

Tren: Hah! That's what you think! (Points triumphantly at Keichi) You have to be mighty first! I've just fallen!

Keichi: That's… true. Huh… Didn't think about it like that…

Tren: Exactly! Okay, let's answer those reviews!

Keichi: Do we have to?

Tren: Yes.

Keichi: (groans and buries head in pillow)

Tren: Who're gonna answer first?

Keichi: (looks on laptop) Sugar High Water Uma…

Tren: Right, thanks for thinking it's seriously awesome. Still awesome in your mind? You'll find out who the bird killing meanie is, see? Though Lucas isn't his real name….

Keichi: Next we have… M0nk3ys wI11 Ru13 th3 w0r1d…wow, L33t sp33k. Don't see that very often…

Tren: Thank you new reader! I'm so grateful you love it! Don't worry, I LOVE long reviews. They give me something to do! Did I update soon enough?

Keichi: Niana Kuonji

Tren: YAY! I got a nice job! (dances) I worked hard on his personality. Did I keep all the other up? I wish Koenma would have a heart attack…

Keichi: Me too.

Tren: And do you still like how dear "Lucas" is doing? Sorry, the short name was invented by Sabs… who is not here right now.

Keichi: Speakin' of the Devil, Sabs reviewed.

Tren: Of course she did (winces) No… bad news? No grammar issues? OMG!

Hell froze over!

Keichi: Also, thanks to inkheart and M0nk3ys wI11 Ru13 th3 w0r1d, who have listed us in their favorite stories (hey, ink heart! Review!)

Tren: And also thanks to, again, M0nk3ys wI11 Ru13 th3 w0r1d, Niana Kuonji and sugar high water uma. Your support is greatly appreciated. So, until next time.

Keichi: Cheerio.


	3. In which Michael thwarts

**Note:** Again, reviews will be answered at the end. Enjoy

-Don Juan (to the Devil): It is the success with which you have diverted the attention of men from their real purpose… that has earned you the name of The Tempter."

-George Bernard Shaw

It was twilight and the sky above Japan looked as though it was on fire as soft clouds swept by the harsh winds that had suddenly settled on the town. Silhouetted against the sun was a figure standing on top of a building. His arms crossed over his chest, it was the most recent villain for the Spirit Detectives who, so far, was called Lucas, though he refused to tell what his real name was. Blowing carelessly around his face was his soft blonde hair, cut since the last time the son of King Enma had seen him. Glasses missing from his face his eyes were scanning the city below him as though he owned it. Finally his eyes alighted on something and he smiled calmly, stepping off the ledge of the ten story apartment and fell quietly to the pavement, his boots connecting toe to heel with no discernable sound. Clothing settling back around his body he pulled slightly at the cuffs of his jacket before walking after a young woman ten feet in front of him.

Heels pounding angrily against the floor, she flicked her long, bleached blonde hair over one shoulder as she stormed off down the streets of Japan. Dressed in a cute pair of jeans and a warm wool pea coat with her hands shoved deep into her pockets she looked off, angry, tears welling up in her eyes.

"I… I can't believe that good for nothing…" she muttered off, making her way to a small bench outside the nearby park.

Falling gratefully onto the metal, barred seating, she leaned on her knees, tears falling off her eyes and splashing wetly onto the pavement. Taking in a deep, shuddering breath she suddenly became aware that someone was behind her by the soft whisper of a swishing jacket.

"You look like your having a bad day," a smooth voice said to her. It was smooth and kind, as though the speaker knew what had happened to her and was telling her that everything would be alright.

"You have no idea," she bitterly replied, wiping the tears off her face as the speaker moved over and sat down next to her.

"Here."

In front of her face was a hand, smooth, pale and finely manicured. Clasped between the long fingers was a square of fine cloth, a handkerchief. Taking it gently, she thought to herself who exactly carried around those things anymore. Shrugging to off she wiped her face off and looked at the man.

Staring at her with a look of obvious concern was a man straight out of fairytale. Taking his hand away from her he tucked it back into the pocket of his trench coat as though to ward off the chill that was beginning to fall onto Japan's streets. Quickly he tucked his bangs behind his eyes, fingers brushing against the silver hoops that ran through the lobe. Smiling at her, his nose wrinkled just slightly in an endearing fashion.

"Mind telling me exactly what happened?"

Next thing she knew it all came out. She had been dating this guy; they graduated from the same high school and only recently found each other. They were sitting on a park bench, just like the one they were on now, when suddenly, it hit her. He'd been cheating on her with her best friend. Upset, she confronted him. As it turned out it was true. This was where she stopped and broke out into uncontrollable sobs, her fingers grasping desperately onto his jacket.

"It's alright… you're fine…" the man comforted her, running his cold hand over her soft, fine hair.

"I… I would do anything to get him back…" she muttered off finally once the sobs that had wracked her body had subsided, leaving her shaking slightly.

"…" at first he was quiet then, "… anything?"

She frowned slightly, her brows furrowing. There was something odd in his voice, it seemed to tremble slightly with an odd sort of eagerness, like a puppy waiting for its masters call after waiting for so long. Thinking it'd be best to see what the man's expression was she tried to look up, but found his hand still, ever so gently pressing her face down so all she could see was his jacket.

"You said you'd do anything, Michiko… do you mean it?" he whispered, his oddly cool breath washing over her ear, making her long to shiver but her entire body seemed frozen.

'_How does he know my name?_' she thought off to herself as his hand now had begun to absentmindedly braid her long locks.

"Well, I can make sure you and your boyfriend, Hiroshi, will live and love until last days of your lives… what do you say? Will you still to anything?"

It was odd to her, his voice sounded so warm so how could his body be so cold? The chill that seemed to flow off him had long since begun to make her shiver so she clutched tighter to his chest and was surprised to find that where his heart should be was warm. To be more accurate, it felt as though he was burning, as though a fire was contained just in the one place, burning forever.

"I… I…" she couldn't think straight as the heat against her face began to addle her brain, making her sleepy. Didn't she want to be together with Hiroshi forever? "Yes… I want to be with him… to forget the affair… for him to love only me forever..." Michiko mumbled, curling up against his entire body now, just to get closer to him.

"Then make a deal with me. I'll ensure that Hiroshi will forget that friend of yours and love only you until the day he dies, and you will do the same. Nothing shall tear you apart… but I won't do this for free," the man, added, lingering the last part, waiting for her to ask.

"Mmm…." She sighed and then spoke up again, "What do you want?"

"All I ask for is your soul."

"My soul?" Michiko giggled as though it was funny, "I think I might need that to live, you know?"

"Don't be silly, I'm not asking for it now. I'll just collect it when you've died and I've upheld our end of the deal? So how does that sound?"

No matter how hard Michiko tried to think it over her mind just wandered off as her every thought kept trying to call her to sleep. It didn't really seem like that bad of deal though. All she had to do was make a deal… and who needed a soul once your dead?

"Fine… It's a deal…"

Suddenly he began to move until he was standing and he made sure she was sitting, if not haphazardly, on the bench. Sweeping elegantly onto her knees, his coat's hem billowed and fanned out on the pavement. Bowing courteously, he took her hand in his own and out of nowhere procured a thick, cream colored scroll of parchment. She could see it was written in some ancient language. Her eyes scanned down it and she read:

Ut subcribo meus animus super , Ego Michiko , quaeso vita of diligo quod perpes bliss per meus impono…

She got exactly that far before her eyes again wandered and she stared at the man, who stared at her almost hungrily but with a painful sort of sadness lingering just behind it in his bright blue eyes.

"Simply sign you name," he held out his hand which clasped a thin black pen that looked as though it could break the speed limit.

Awkwardly taking it from his hand, she was about to set the tip on the paper when a voice called out.

"Ma'am! Ma'am! There you are!"

Surprised and suddenly scared, Michiko looked over to see a young man running towards them, her purse swinging from one of his hands.

"Good, Ma'am! I was hoping to find you! You left this at the deli!"

Sure enough, he still wore the apron of a deli worker, his soft brunette hair pulled away from his face with a thin white ribbon.

"Oh…" confused, Michiko stood up and took it from him just as her cell phone began to ring. Picking it up, she walked off, chatting with her boyfriend, who was apologizing, crying to her about how badly he loves her and wants he to give him another chance. With that she headed back to the apartment that they shared, the memory of the man she had snuggled against now fading, and she vaguely wondered why some of her hair was braided.

"Dammit…" the man muttered off, watching as she left and he glanced down at the still unsigned contract.

"Hm, don't you just love a happy ending?" the deli worker sighed, grinning over at the tall blonde mysteriously.

Annoyed at the anonymous good guy, Lucas took a good look at the guy. Just barely shorter than him, he had eyes the same color of blue as his own which were smiling genially at the disappearing figure of Michiko. Though he had a deli frock on, underneath he wore a pair of pale blue jeans and a pure white oxford shirt, unbuttoned around the neck, revealing perfectly tan skin.

"Mm… yes… a happy ending," Lucas replied tersely, rolling his eyes. With a wave of his hand the parchment burst into flames and the pen remained to be tucked into a hidden pocket of his jacket.

"Makes it all worthwhile, no? So lucky I found that purse," the deli guy added nodding his head appreciatively.

"Luck has nothing to do with it," Lucas muttered off, glaring at an innocent piece of shrubbery nearby, imagining what he wished to be doing to the young man next to him, as he appeared to be barely older than 21.

"I really do wish them the best," the man added, smiling cheerfully while crossing his arms over his chest.

"Oh would you take that hideous frock off? You look ridiculous," Lucas snapped, turning on the man who just stared at him with mockingly innocent eyes.

"But why? I think this color is actually really flattering," the man replied, waving expressively at the apron that was a dark navy blue that complemented his tan skin and pale eyes.

"Honestly…" Lucas groaned, hiding his face in one hand while the man snickered and by the time he looked up again, the offending garment was vanishing in a flash of white light soon after the man removed a pale pair of silver rimmed glasses from one of the pockets.

"There, any better?" he asked politely, holding his hands out, palms up as though offering a truce.

"Slightly. You do realize my existence would be a lot easier if you people would just stop nagging me at every chance I get for a decent deal?" Lucas sighed, looking up at the sky with bored eyes.

"Yes, we do, but it's not entirely as though you don't give us a hard time all by yourself," he retorted optimistically, turning his own gaze upward to see what Lucas was staring at while pushing the glasses up the bridge of his nose, making sure the legs were snugly tucked behind he his ears.

"Hah, you should just leave me to my own device and I'll just leave you to yours, would it really be that hard?" Lucas asked, pushing his hair out of his face.

"Now, THAT would be impossible. Hm… So what exactly are you doing here?" the man began to walk off, Lucas following to keep the conversation going.

"Me? I thought I deserved a vacation."

"And you normally work on your vacations…?"

"Now that you mention it, no… but some spirit detectives put in a rather foul mood."

"Hm… THAT is certainly an impressive feat. Of course, I can't blame you, they really are a nuisance," the man sighed at the last part and tucked his hands into the pockets of his pale jeans and strolled off all the more merry.

"To annoy you? I don't really know what I'm going to do with them!" Lucas laughed at the last part, casting a sideways glance at the man beside him. Just for an instant he could see a pair of white wings coming off the man's back, simply a phantom relief of moonlight that disappeared when Lucas took a closer look.

"What are you planning to do?" the man asked apprehensively, squinting suspiciously at Lucas.

"Mm… whatever are you implying?" his eyebrows shot up incredulously as he stared at the brunette. "Are you trying to say that I might do something… bad to those Detectives?"

"Oooh… I know you to well, you old Devil, so don't try to act all blameless with me!" the brunette cried out wretchedly, wringing his hands together.

"I will simply go to see them, if they choose to attack, I'll more than gladly fight back," Lucas replied calmly, patting the man next to him on the shoulder.

The man could only sigh as he walked silently next to Lucas, both getting momentarily lost in their own thoughts before Lucas spoke.

"As much as I adore spending time with you and you kind… you must excuse me… I must find some kind of lodgings."

"Oh… alright," the brunette replied slightly.

"Mm…" the man hummed off slightly and then turned around, facing the brunette again and completely forgetting his hunt for lodgings. "You really are horrible, Michael." One hand dug around in his pocket until it finally procured a sleek silver Zippo lighter and a crumpled packet of unfiltered cigarettes. The brand's name had been worn away from the amount of time it had been crushed. Effortlessly he flipped the lighter open with a flick of the wrist and a small flame began to flicker. Within seconds he was sucking almost reverently, breathing the smoke slowly out of the side of mouth.

"That's a disgusting habit. It'll turn your lungs black," the brunette called Michael wrinkled his nose slightly even though, oddly, there was no smoky smell in the air. Thinking about it for a moment, he noticed that his glasses had slid to the tip of his nose and with his middle and forefinger he pushed them back up to their rightful places.

"Do you think I really care all that much? Besides, then my lungs will match my heart, eh?" Smiling wryly, Lucas pulled the cigarette away from his mouth, breathing out slowly, making small nimbus clouds drift off into the freezing cold air.

"Still… it's revolting," Michael waved offhandedly while fanning some of the lingering smoke away from his clothes.

"Sure, sure… but it doesn't stink, does it?" Lucas cocked his eyebrow at his sort of "companion" and smirked, taking another long drag.

"Hmmm…" Michael pressed his lips together and made an odd sort of nagging hum before he looked off and sighed. "I have to go. Urgent business and all."

Before explaining exactly what the "urgent business" was, Michael was gone in flash of pure light and a soft flurry of pure white feathers. Lucas sighed, making sure to steer clear from the feathers like the plague and looked off, twirling the cigarette casually between his two fingers. The glowing red tip left trails of light as it spun in circles until he looked off, snuffing against the garbage can nearby and walked off, tossing the wasted butt away with a cool flick of his fingers.

Mind now wandering he began to muse on his short attention span, but quickly forgot what he was thinking and decided instead to try and figure out what to do with those spirit detectives. Deciding instead to wander around the forest just a bit longer he sighed, strolling slowly between the trees, his eyes meandering around the darkness though it had never once bugged his vision.

"Hmm…. Damn…" Lucas muttered off the last part, running his hands through his hair absentmindedly as he finally headed out, curious as to where he was going to find lodging this late at night.

Oh well, there was one perk about being "evil".

No need for reservations.

-Tren: Well, end of chapter three…

Keichi: AND STILL NO ACTION!

Tren: Yeah, yeah… we have to wait for the Reikai Tentai to do something dumb.

Keichi: Mmm hmm. Knowing Kazuma and Urameshi… well… (Looks off frankly) it won't take long.

Tren: Of course, thanks to all of you who are willing to read this, it means a lot. Also, who do you think Lucas is?

Keichi: Most of them have already guessed.

Tren: Wow…. (looks off at computer) your right. Also, check out my other fanfics if you want!

Keichi: Yeah, if you want (sarcasm)

Tren: Anyway, lets answer these reviews!

Keichi: People… reviewed? (cocks eyebrow, surprised and suspicious)

Tren: Yes… (death glare) yes they did! So let's answer them!

Keichi: Alright, first off we have Sabs… she's knows the answers to her review and all…

Tren: Yups… so onto M0nk3ys (names has been shortened for our sanity)

Keichi: Yeah, you don't know a lot of things? Allllllright…

Tren: Glad you like it!

Keichi:onto inkheart

Tren: Glad to see you've found some of my other fics. Yeah, 'rents don't know about my fanfics… glad you love it! Lucas… he's not so original, though the way he acts is kinda new… I love the fact that you give such long reviews, it makes all this writing totally worthwhile. Thanks!

Keichi: Onto Niana Kuonji.

Tren: Glad you like, yeah, Hiei's oddly quiet but then again, with all the crap Hiei's done, you just know he's made a deal somewhere back when… did you friend like this? Or read this for that matter?

Keichi: next is simply Amanda… glad you find this interesting?

Tren: and shadowcat, you are nice a blunt. Yeah, Lucas is… well… keeping that hidden.

Keichi: And last of all, Uma (again, name shortened) thanks! Glad it's still awesome

Tren: Until next time, Cheerio!


	4. In Which He Dies

Tren: Okay, again I'm here to torture the Spirit Detectives with Lucas. I've become more and more fond of him as time goes by. I mean, at first he was just some kind of fun little guy, now he's got to be one of my more favorite characters. Though can I really take credit for him? Anyway, keeping this AN section as short as possible so I won't torture you as much as usual. Italics are also thought voices/ ghost speak. Got it?

-Better keep the Devil at the door than turn him out of the house.-

-James Kelley

As many vigilantes will cry out, evil doesn't sleep. This is a gross exaggeration, as, on average, evil is a rather large, and combined, when one evil being was awake, another was sleeping. Adding to the fact that most bad guys look the same, usually dressed in clichéd black outfits, greasy hair and are full of cheesy cackles; therefore, most people will assume that evil doesn't sleep. At this moment, what could easily be considered the most evil being that was on earth at this time (though this is subject to opinion) was currently bored; his lithe form sprawled out over a downy futon mattress.

Soft, pale blonde hair fanned across the pile of pillows and his piercing blue eyes stared off at the flat screen TV nailed to the wall to his left while some idiot droned on about the news. To be honest, he was asleep; his thought waves about as interesting as that of a rock's.

Outside a maid slowly meandered down the hallway, dressed in the pale, dusty blue kimono with vaguely darker obi that was the uniform of the Myakka hotels. She stopped at the door of one room and shivered. It was only an hour ago that she had checked in the young man staying there. Always hating the graveyard shift, she was leaning up against the smooth teak counter, rhythmically tapping her fingers one by one in smooth succession. A gust of chilly air made her shiver and look to the door as a breathtakingly striking man strolled in, hands shoved deep into the pockets of his awesome, rather gothic style trench coat, the hem billowing out behind him in ways that she had only seen in movies. With all the confidence of a king he walked quickly to the counter and planted his long, pale and well manicured hands against the counter's smooth grain.

"I need a room," his voice was velvety and reminded her of the midnight sky.

She thought about it, chewing on her gum a little longer. What the hell was he on? This late at night during tourism season and he wanted a room?

"Uh… sorry, no can do. We're booked. Totally," she replied in the same monotone voice she usually adopted for the midnight hours and stared at him with bored eyes.

"Really?" he cocked an eyebrow at her and tapped his forefinger against the counter and grinned cockily. "Check again, won't you?"

Rolling her eyes, she checked the screen and her eyes grew wide when sure enough, there was an open room, their best one, too! And she was totally certain that the place was booked. Grinning a bit wider the man pushed his credit card across to her.

"I'd like to stay for… oh… whenever," he waved his hand dismissively.

Taking the card timidly, she ran it through the machine and booked the room, for three weeks to be safe, and looked up at him, handing the card back while eyeing him suspiciously.

"Have a nice stay, here's your key."

He walked off and disappeared around the corner with a flick of his jacket.

Now she was standing outside his room, listening to the soft droning of a newscaster. Shivering, she tried to figure out why being near that man made her feel so cold and dead. Finally she worked her legs back into movement and hurried off, careful not wake the other people.

Back inside the room Lucas was just vaguely aware that someone was outside his door though in all honesty he didn't care. Slowly forcing himself out of his sleepy reverie he yawned, stretching his arms high above his head and feeling more than a few joints pop in protest. Mumbling dark curse words to himself, Lucas forced his body into motion and stood almost drunkenly on unsure legs before finally gaining his balance.

He had come to Japan to rest. Of course, those nimrods called Reikai Tentai had to appear. Now his only hope would be that they would be too terrified to come after him. Knowing how two of the four idiot's minds worked, he'd have an easier time getting rest in a war torn country than here. Come to think of it, a war torn country didn't seem that bad. Strolling over to one of the small, minimalist couches that were placed strategically in the room for the best flow of chi, Lucas picked up his jacket, pulling his arms through the sleeves and strapping just a few buckles around his chest he walked off, turning the small door knob hanger to read "Do Not Disturb."

In a matter of minutes he was outside. The moon was beginning to wane and it seemed that the birds had caught wind of what happened to what was most likely their brother or sister or cousin, and decided, wisely, to shut up the moment his body left the building. Groaning loudly, he contemplated on just how to dispose of the detectives. Finally it hit him. Grinning to himself, mainly, he briskly walked to the park, a plan already formulating in the darker little parts of his brains.

Sitting lazily around the small coffee table in Kurama's living room, three of the Reikai Tentai were contemplating the mysterious stranger they had met at the café. As it normally seems to be the case, Kurama's mother was gone that night, and would be for the rest of the week as her soon to be husband had whisked her away on a sweet, romantic getaway.

Leaning heavily on the table with his elbows Yusuke was glaring off, staring at the clock which was slowly ticking down the midnight hours. One finger was drumming a tattoo onto the oak surface with all the agitation of a man deprived of a well deserved fight.

"Dammit, what is Koenma thinkin'? Sendin' us after some guy, tellin' us not to fight and then we meet 'em in a café and he WARNS us? What is this!" he growled darkly off, clenching his free fist into a tight ball.

"I understand that this is frustrating, Yusuke, but we can't just charge into a fight before we know who we will facing," Kurama replied, using the same answer he had only an hour ago when Yusuke asked the question as he had for every hour on the hour since they had arrived at his house to talk things over.

"Huh… where's short stuff?" Kuwabara asked, looking around the room to make sure that he wasn't seeing things. Nope, the so called "short one" wasn't there at all. In fact, he had disappeared soon after the freak in black named Lucas left the café.

"How the hell would we know?" Yusuke asked, fingers uncurling from his fists as they now started to twitch, his body longing for the next nicotine fix. Because of Keiko he hadn't had a fresh drag for two days and his body was letting him know it.

"Most likely he's off brooding somewhere," Kurama replied calmly, looking off at the quiet house, ignoring the oddly unsettled feeling that was seemingly haunting his thoughts.

"Yeah, that sounds like 'em," Kuwabara nodded his head, content with the answer.

"Still, how're supposed to take a bad guy seriously if his name is Lucas?" Yusuke added, the twitch in his fingers spreading to his entire hand now.

"What is so bad about the name Lucas?" Kurama asked, still curious as to what the two humans of their group found so utterly amusing.

"Could it be the fact that it sounds like any other person's name? I have expect to hear someone call 'Lucas, darling, you need to clean the dishes and mow the lawn!'" Yusuke imitated, poorly, a woman's voice and making a face.

"I still don't get why-" Kurama didn't get to finish as all of them heard a scream.

Not out loud of course, as that would just be crazy, but it was a horror-struck shriek worthy of movie that involved either a crazy man with a chainsaw or a ghost with an unhealthy lust for vengeance. All three fell quiet and in a matter of seconds were all up and out of the house, racing to where the sound had come from, the park.

First to arrive was Kurama, then Kuwabara and finally Yusuke, who was now feeling the affects of the cigarettes on his lungs. It was a small clearing, vaguely circular where many a couple would visit for a picnic. Their eyes searched for the culprit or the screamer, they finally all settled upon a blackened stump that was once a tree, an old oak. Fading slightly was the tree spirit; an elegant female shape disappeared into darkness. With a swish of cloth, Lucas appeared.

Standing arrogantly as ever with his arms crossed over his chest, his body an elegant, slender shadow, his hair seemed to glow, still pulled back into a neat pony tail. Though it was dark outside he wore sunglasses that hid his eyes. Smiling calmly, he began to move, simply shifting his weight from one foot to the other.

"Ah, good to see you received my invitation. I was worrying that you might have not noticed," he said, nodding his head to them gracefully.

"How could we not! Why did you kill a tree?" Kurama asked, outraged, and for the first time, the first to lose his temper.

"Kill a tree? Oh… Well, I must regret, you didn't leave me with an address and this seemed to be the fastest way to get in touch. You see, I have a bit of problem," Lucas replied, unfolding on arm to pull out yet another cigarette. Not wanting to find his lighter, he placed it gently between his lips and blew; the stubby end glowed with a sudden flare of red. Casually blowing long tendrils of smoke out from between soft lips he waved his hands off casually, leaving lingering trails from the embers of smoldering tobacco.

"You see, my problem is simple. By business has been, well, Hell, as of late and it's begun to get on my nerves. So like any discerning business man I decided to grab my car on go on a vacation of sorts," Lucas explained, stopping to take a slow, long drag, making Yusuke long to grab it out from between the man's long fingers for his own benefit.

"But you're not supposed to be here! So Koenma sent us after you to make ya leave, and ya gotta leave," Kuwabara added, keeping a wary on Kurama, who was still upset about the death of a great old tree.

"Yes… and my vacation would have gone off without a hitch if it wasn't for you meddlesome kids and you stupid fox," Lucas sneered off the last part, flicking a few ashes off and they could see he was annoyed. "Knowing that toddler, he's most likely told you to run me out Japan, correct?"

Nobody responded though each for their own reasons. Kuwabara was far too uncomfortable as the dead feeling that had pervaded the café now filled the small park. Yusuke was far too busy trying to resist the urge to punch the guy and take his cigarette and what else he had and Kurama was trying to remain calm though he began to hate the man.

"He sends children such as you after me… I'm offended… well, not entirely. I've gotten used to this treatment. Of course, I have no plans to leave. You are more than welcome to make me though; I always have stress that I'd like to blow off."

In this moment Yusuke darted forward, fist glowing with spirit energy. It didn't matter to him that he was told specifically not to fight or that he was most likely driven to this by a nicotine fit (he kept telling Keiko it wasn't a good idea to stop), he kept going forward. Shifting to one side to avoid the blow his free hand caught the fist midair. Icy fingers closed around the knuckles with surprising force, making a few pop as the coldness began to spread up Yusuke's arm. With a sweeping movement Lucas pulled the teen closer to him and stared over his sunglasses with eyes that seemed to blaze with hatred.

"You'll have to better than that," he breathed softly, smoke escaping his lips as he pushed the teen away as though he was a rag doll. As his fingers left the achingly chilled fist as did the spirit energy, leaving slowly, forming a glowing blue ball in the man's hand.

Yusuke went sprawling, his back colliding with a trunk of tree while Kuwabara was the next to try an attack, his long legs closing the distance between Lucas and himself with ease as the man landed a casual kick right to his chest. Surprised and definitely winded, Kuwabara had to force himself off the grass, his legs starting to shake with what he could begin to identify as fear.

"Good LORD," Lucas groaned, placing his foot back down onto the blackened stump, "is that rea-"

His moaning got cut short as there was a sudden cracking noise in the air and he felt a sharp pain across the side of his face. Standing calmly in front of him was Kurama, rose whip curling back around him habitually. Cold green eyes stared back at the man, glinting dangerously gold in the moonlight.

"…" Lucas was speechless for a moment as he timidly reached up at the deep gash on his face while something black oozed out, though the Reikai Tentai guessed it to be blood and attributed the color to the moonlight. "That… was unexpected. My, did I anger the demon?" he cocked a slender eyebrow sardonically, a cruel smile playing across his otherwise pleasant face.

"Yeah! Kurama got a hit on him!" Yusuke said, punching his fist in the air triumphantly, looking over at Kuwabara with a sure grin on his face.

"Ah, your red haired friend did manage to get a hit on me… but as you can see," he wiped the smear of dark liquid off his face revealing perfectly unmarred skin, "it truly is no matter."

"Aw, crap," Kuwabara muttered off, feeling vaguely sick.

By the time the orange haired punk looked back at the stump, the man was gone; instead he was a black blur heading straight for Yusuke. As usual, Yusuke was ready for a fight, fists raised in anticipation as the man's right leg went straight for the throat. With ease, he caught the leg by the slender ankle. Before he could process what was happening, the man's other leg left the ground, colliding with his head with surprising force. Lucas' hands shot out as he did an elegant hand spring out of his fall, landing rather like a cat, one leg tucked under him, the other sprawled out to his side.

A now, almost crazed grin was spreading across his face as he darted forward, his attention focused solely on Yusuke. Before Yusuke could react, his mind vaguely numbed by the latest blow, Lucas' hand had collided firmly right above his heart.

"What the Hell-" he stopped mid sentence as he looked down to see that a ring of darkness was encircling the man's wrist and suddenly plunged into him. There was a shockwave that scattered small feather shaped pieces of shadow out like ripples in the air, wind blasting each of the spirit detectives and sending Yusuke's limp form flying backwards, though his spirit still remained where he stood, still unaffected by the attack. Of course, Yusuke didn't really notice, completely unaware of the fact that he was once again separated from his body, as it seemed to be a growing habit.

Lucas jumped backwards in a sweeping motion, his jacket snapping through the air like a whip in his wake. Again he let loose another soft, dark chuckle, suddenly landing back onto the darkened stump that was once a tree. With a wave of his hand Yusuke's soul became invisible to all but his own baby blues.

"Whoa… where'd Urameshi go?" Kuwabara's rough voice suddenly asked, chafing through the smooth night air like sandpaper.

"Your friend over there? I'm sorry; it seems he's… expired for the night? Or longer if you don't hurry," Lucas threatened softly.

_Hey! I'm right here! What th' Hell are you guys talkin' about! _Yusuke cried out, waving his arms crazily.

"What did you do you Yusuke?" Kurama cried out, his temper beginning flare it's almost nonexistent head.

_Dammit, I could expect this from Kazu but you, Kurama? I'M… RIGHT… HERE!_ Yusuke meant to jump in the air at the last word but noticed that his body didn't push off against the ground but instead just rose slowly into the air like when he was…

_Damn_.

"I'm afraid your friend's spirit has left his body, so to speak," Lucas explained, waving a hand casually like this was really no big deal. "I have removed it and kept it hidden from your little psychic eyes. Of course, my job is usually to collect souls, not keep them hanging around as souvenirs, so if he suddenly… slips away… is it really my fault?" he shrugged his shoulders to show that this honestly didn't bother him at all.

_WHAT? I WANT TO GET BACK TO MY BODY **NOW**! _Yusuke screamed, guessing (correctly) that Lucas could hear him.

"Give our friend back his soul!" Kuwabara cried out, racing forward to attack the blonde haired villain once again. His spirit sword poised and ready for an attack, it effectively slashed across the man's chest, not as deep as it could have been considering Lucas had taken a hasty step back. Just like the last time his skin had been marred by Kurama, the man showed no pain on his face, as he remained looking creepily amused as he took two quick steps to his left to dodge another wild swing, all the while taking another deep drag from the cigarette still held between his two fingers in one hand. Seeing an opening he rushed forward, coming almost nose to nose with the orange haired teen, a cruel smile playing across his lips.

Inaudible to all but the Lucas and Kuwabara, the blond whispered something dark in a language that made Kazuma's heart want to stop out of despair. As Lucas released the words from behind his lips the smoke he'd been containing escaped slowly and then it happened. In a blast of energy, Kuwabara flew backwards; his entire body bound in the smoke which had turned to thick, gray chains of some kind of metal. He guessed steel. Tossing the sunglasses to one side, Lucas turned his gaze upon the last standing member, Kurama, with a darkly amused expression burning behind each eye.

"Looks as though it is just you and me… clichéd to say, but it is indeed true," Lucas mused as seconds later he took another deep breath through the cigarette, sighing the pale vapor into the chilled night air.

"Yes… it appears to be that way. Return Yusuke to his body, now, and release Kuwabara," Kurama replied curtly, his fingers tightening on the handle of his whip in anticipation as much as anxiety.

"Really? What would be the fun in that? After all, isn't one on one far fairer?" the man asked, smiling, still smoking calmly as though he wasn't entrapped in a fight.

_Stop tryin' to be scary, you ain't! You're as threatenin' as a three year old school girl? GAWD, would you STOP smokin'?_ Yusuke's spiritual voice throbbed in the blonde's head, making Lucas shake his head to get the noise out.

_HAH! I know you can hear me!_

Lucas looked off away from Kurama for a moment, his eyes staring fiercely right where the "ghost" of Yusuke and then he spoke, though his lips didn't move. Instead, the rich voice filled the air, letting only the greasy haired school punk hear him.

**_Shut your infernal mouth, idiot before I decide to act on those threats._ **

Fury burned so brightly behind the glassy blue eyes that Yusuke found himself for once speechless, his entire spirit refusing to move. Turning his attention back to the only detective capable of attacking him, he realized in an instant that he was too late. Slicing through the air was the rose whip, deftly sent through the air with an expert flick of his wrist. In an instant Lucas was falling back to the ground, blood spraying through the air. Cut eight times across the torso and neck, there was no way a human or a demon could survive an attack like that.

Sighing in relief, Kurama took an few seconds to make sure that he was indeed not getting up like in some horror movie or suddenly pop into many, tiny, Lucas-s, like what happened to Mickey Mouse in The Sorcerer's Apprentice. Assured that nothing freaky had happened yet, and probably wouldn't Kurama made his way quickly to Kuwabara who was sitting up, the chains forged from smoke gone.

"Kazuma, are you alright?"

"Ugh… yeah… he's dead right?" Kuwabara eyed the pieces of the body warily, squinting even more than usual.

"Yes… though he can regenerate, I doubt he can bring his body back from death," Kurama replied, turning his back to the gruesome scene to feel around for any broken bones.

"Uh… if he's gone, and so are the chains… why isn't Urameshi back?"

It was true, Kurama noticed, as he looked around. No spirit could be found.

"Perhaps it will take a little longer, remember, Yusuke's soul split his body a ways before you got chained up," Kurama explained, brushing it off with another logical explanation.

"Good… he's dead." Kuwabara added, relief flooding his body in a dizzying rush.

"Who is exactly is dead?"

"Lucas." Both Kurama and Kuwabara responded in unison before realizing that the new voice sounded… familiar…

"Funny how life turns out, huh?" It asked.

Crap.

-Alright, let's end this chapter and have a little cliff hanger. How are all of you? Well, let's not dally and head off to responding to all of you reviewers (thank you to the few of you that there are!)

-hottytottie90- I'm glad you really like my story so far… It really means a lot. Sorry if a few of my descriptions are a bit confusing. Glad this was written "intelligently". Thank you and I hope that I'm keeping it up!

M0nk3ys- Well, what do you think?

Shadowcat- It keeps getting better? WOOT! And yay, there's action now, see? Michael will show up more…

Sabs- you're being answered now… better?

Niana Kuonji- Hello there again! Don't worry about spazzing out… we all have short attention spans…I realize that I have this problem and will be doing something about this shortly.

Uma- what do you think?


	5. In Which Gabriel Appears

-Tren: Well, I'm back for chapter five of Sympathy for the Devil. What do you think so far? This is actually one of my more amusing stories, considering I love when people review, and Lucas has been a pet project of mine for a while now. Let's keep this short and beautiful, huh?

-g(o)od and (d)evil- Sam Keen (get it?)

It was like a nightmare, or some horror movie you could see at the cinema for five bucks. People find bad guy (or in some cases, bad guy finds people) and people kill bad guy… then bad guy rises from the dead. Kurama and Kuwabara could feel the hair standing up on the backs of their necks when the man's voice said-

"Funny how life turns out, huh?"

This wasn't funny. No… the fact that you most certainly killed a man and he just rose from the dead is never funny, unless you become hysterical which neither of the young men was seriously contemplating but the idea was still in their heads.

"I must say… the weapon of yours really does hurt. Makes me wonder why you use a whip though," Lucas' voice mused, soundly oddly amused considering he just died and now he was making insinuations towards the most modest of their group.

"This… can't… be… happening…" Kuwabara found himself whispering in a breathless tone, his heart currently caught in his throat while it simultaneously dropped down a bottomless pit.

"Oh, it indeed can."

"Impossible…" Kurama breathed, not wishing to turn around but knowing it was inevitable.

"When people say things are impossible, it's simply because no one's done them yet."

Silence greeted this statement as slowly Kurama was the first to turn around, his body tense and ready for the fight he knew to be inevitable. Sure enough, standing right where he body once lay in pieces was a very whole Lucas, and he was grinning the same smug grin. His legs were covered by loose, distressed jeans and secured around his slim waist by a thick black leather belt, the clasp made of thick silver that seemed somewhat black. His feet where bare along with his chest, revealing the same soft, pale skin as the rest of his body. Body retaining the gloriously toned physic of an Olympic swimmer, he managed to look fit without appearing as creepily buff as Arnold Schwarzenegger. One hand resting lightly on his hip, they could see that a thick black cuff was wrapped around it, just barely the moonlight glinted out carved words in a language they didn't understand. Soft hair now hanging around his face, he looked oddly angelic as his icy blue eyes stared at them with an almost giddy expression.

"Hello… you don't look to happy to see me," he noted, shifting his weight from one foot to the other as he looked, a melodramatic pained expression racing across his face to be replaced by his laughing. Though they both wanted to run, the soft chuckle was so kind and warming, making them feel as though the place was safe though they knew it wasn't.

"Can you blame us?" Kurama replied, getting to his feet as he stared warily at the man who just sighed.

"No… I would guess not, though you should. I mean, did I start the fight?" Lucas asked, ignoring the fact that the spirit of Yusuke was now screaming at him to shut up.

"Yes, but YOU aren't supposed to be here in the first place," Kurama replied while Kuwabara was checking Yusuke's vital signs.

"Oh, not you too. I had heard that you actually possessed a brain. Seems as though once again I've been proven wrong," he muttered off the last part before starting up again, "Of course, can you really blame me? I hate it when people tell me what I have to do. Could it really be any more frustrating?" Lucas waved his hand off casually, sighing forlornly.

"There are usually well founded reasons behind limits such as those," Kurama said, shaking his head slowly as he looked over his shoulder at Kazuma to see how Yusuke's body was doing.

"He's fine… still not respondin'. Getting' sorta cold though."

"Seems like you're running of time," Lucas noted, nodding his head over to them, "I think I'm gonna leave though…" he turned on his heel and made to walk off. As he did so, he revealed a long, thick scar running down the right side of his back, covering a good portion of where his shoulder blade should be. It looked old and painful, as though something had been ripped out of him.

"Wait! Put our friend back into his body!" Kurama cried out, taking a few steps towards him hastily, then stopping as the man glared over his non-scarred shoulder and glared at him.

"I'll do so… if…" There was always an 'if', "If you can beat me. Though I doubt you can, so maybe I should make it more fair. How about, if you amuse me, you'll little friend can finally get back to his body once more, he should really take better care of that thing, smoking will kill you, you know."

Even though he had stated that his habit was indeed lethal, he reached down and picked up his cigarette that had fallen out of his dead hands. He stared forlornly at it for a moment, mainly because it had been snuffed out and crumpled like an accordion.

"Damn… last one of the pack."

Sighing he tossed it despondently away and looked over, making a vaguely annoyed face before turning around completely and once again standing there, one hand still on his hip.

"Gonna amuse me yet? I mean… you do have two ways…" he whispered the last part and licked his lips slowly, his eyes beginning to smolder with something other than hatred.

"You're disgusting," Kurama spat back, motioning to Kuwabara to stay out of "this".

"My dear boy, I haven't even started, though thank you!" he laughed at the last part, waving the hand with the cuffed wrist through the air.

Despite himself, Kurama felt himself oddly curious about the thick bracelet as he tried to figure out just what it was, and more importantly, what the writing carved into it said. After a moment of silence Kuwabara brought up what was on Kurama's mind.

"Hey, wazzat?" he pointed vaguely in the direction of the cuff.

"What?" the man looked around "Is this one of those things where when I turn around you'll have run off?"

"No, that!"

"Hm?" he followed where the boy was pointing though he looked instead below his belt. "I am male…"

"NO!" Kuwabara was getting more annoyed by the second.

"He means, that cuff you wear on your left wrist," Kurama added briskly, one brow beginning to twitch in annoyance.

"Oh? This old thing?" he cocked his eyebrows at them and held his wrist up to the level of his jaw so they could see it better. "This, my dear children, is a manacle…"

"A what?" the question came obviously from Kuwabara.

"A manacle… the old, clunky versions of hand cuffs. Good Lord, are you renting the empty space in your head, it could be quite profitable."

"Why are you wearing one?" Kurama asked, gladly beating Kazuma to the chase so he wouldn't ask yet another dumb question.

"Hm? Oh… for my terrible sins…" he looked off, theatrically placing the back of his hand to his head. When he finally looked back he had a dastardly grin spreading from ear to ear, "Of course, it's not like I'm paying in other ways… But no… I cannot remove this until I've been… forgiven, per say." He let loose a short, self loathing laugh as he derisively looked off.

"And what would your sins be?" Kurama asked, stalling until he could come up with a battle plan.

"For me to know and for you to… well, ponder about. So how about you try and entertain me?"

"My pleasure," Kurama nodded his head towards Lucas, transforming his whip back into its bud and tucking it behind his ear. He had already realized that using the whip hadn't worked, so outright killing wouldn't affect him. Reaching back he pulled out a simple plant with thick jade colored leaves at perfectly round black berries. As soon as Lucas' smelled the soft odor he paled even more so than usual and his eyes grew slightly wider.

"Deadly Nightshade?" he asked warily, his eyes returning quickly to their original size and skin back to its usual creamy shade.

"Yes… Since physical attacks don't seem to work, perhaps something from the inside," Kurama replied, turning it quickly into an elegant blade and with that he darted forward, grateful that Hiei had taught him how to fight with a sword.

"HEY!" Lucas cried out in surprise, barely dodging the blow by a hair's width. "Where's the fairness in this fight! I have nothing to defend myself with!"

"Then find something or return Yusuke back to his body!" Kurama replied quickly, making three slashes at the man, only one connected, a long thin line of black across the man's right shoulder.

It took only seconds for the poison to begin to take affect, burning through his body like fire as his heart sent it through his veins. His dodges became slower until finally Kurama went to make a killing blow towards the man's neck when the blade wouldn't move forward any more. Scanning down the length of the blade he could see the man was holding it between his fingers, again his blood dripping down between the digits.

"You're good, normally it would cut a man's hand in half," Kurama noted, his eyes narrowing as he stared at the man's face.

Poison had definitely taken its effect; sweat was beading up on the man's forehead and was now drenching his face and dripping off his chin. Skin almost ashy now, the only lively thing about him was his eyes which looked as though they were beginning to dim.

"I'm lucky…" he replied breathlessly, "I tire of this weapon and its poison."

As he stared the red haired teen straight in the eyes he suddenly grinned, his body appearing normal once more as bright blue flames engulfed the plant's blade. Stumbling backwards as he quickly let go, Kurama tried to blink away the damage that the surprisingly bright flames had done on his eyes. Sadly it didn't work as dark afterimages floated across his vision to the point that it obscured anything in front to him. Next thing he knew, there was a fast, hard pressure against his chest as Lucas planted a kick straight to the base of his ribcage, making him sprawl backwards.

"Hm… I do believe this is a bit more fair," Lucas mused, his voice hinting at his slight glee.

"HEY! That's unfair!" Kuwabara cried out as he tried to get over and defend Kurama.

"Kazuma! Don't!" Kurama warned, his eyes unfocused and staring at the ground before him, although all he saw was darkness.

"But!"

"Not 'but's. Yusuke's life is on the line, I'll be fine!"

"Aw… isn't that…CUTE!" as Lucas shot out the last word his knee collided just under Kurama's chin, making the teen collapse backwards.

"I just love the camaraderie of you Spirit Detectives. How sweet, don't worry, _Kazuma,_ you're little rosy haired bishonen will be _just fine…_" Lucas reassured, walking a slow circle around the teen.

That was when Kurama realized that he didn't need his eyes to know just where

Lucas was. Each step the man made was heavy and though he hadn't noticed it before, seemed to land against the grass with the weight of the world. Sure, he was silent enough, but with the distraction of vision temporarily taken away, Kurama knew he could still fight.

"So, dear boy…" Lucas got ready to give another kick, "Are you ready to give up the… ghost, so to speak?"

Just as his attack was about to collide, Kurama dodged to the left and was ready for the follow up, scuttling backwards just in time. It continued like this for a good three or more attacks before his vision finally returned, though it was a bit fuzzy. Trying to figure out just where exactly the man was Kurama readied himself to dodge when it didn't happen. Instead the man looked off, spitting something off, and it hit Kurama three seconds later that it was the poison. How the man did that, he'd never know.

"Hm… vision coming back?" Lucas asked, cocking his head playfully as Kurama stood up, still wary. Though the man looked laid back, it seemed impossible to tell when he might strike because of that very reason. His body never seemed to have to get ready for an attack, it just happened.

"I am not finished yet…" Kurama replied, and though he acted calm he felt terror.

"Really? Because I think you are… Lucky for you I'm in a generous mood. It's late tonight, you boys are definitely up past your bedtimes… and I'm intrigued with you now… This will not be the last you see of me," Lucas waved one hand, bored, and slowly, Yusuke began to move.

"So… Spirit Detectives…" he walked calmly over to Kurama, bending down ever so slightly so he could look him in the eyes, "Make sure to… keep in touch?" With one swift movement he spun around and left, quickly, and quietly as ever, leaving dumbfounded Reikai Tentai in his tracks.

"Damn… I hate ending fights quickly," he muttered as soon as he was a ways away, scowling as he made his way back to his hotel. Doing some complex motion with his left hand a small slice of shadows from the alley he was passing flowed around him, settling into a warm black oxford shirt, the top three buttons undone as usual. With another wave a thin ribbon of darkness wrapped around his hair, pulling it away from his face and back into it's pony tail.

Though he didn't like the idea he went back to his room and slept the remaining few hours of the day away, waiting until the sun would wake him and he could begin to his scheming once again, or if all else failed, return to his vacation.

In the meantime the Spirit Detectives were finding out why the blonde haired pretty boy had left in such a hurry…

Slowly Yusuke was regaining total control of his body until he managed to sit up, leaning against the arm that Kuwabara had gently placed against his back. At that moment, his entire body started to get that disgustingly tingly feeling that always happens after your leg falls asleep. Although this time, it was his entire body.

"Do you think he's gone for good?" Kuwabara asked timidly, his voice slowly stopping its trembling and returning to its usual sandpaper tones.

"I wouldn't bet on it. He isn't done with us yet," Kurama responded ominously, checking Yusuke over for any signs of long term damage.

"I don't like the sound of that," Yusuke groaned, finally standing up on weak legs that, at any given moment, threatened to give out from under him.

"You shouldn't."

All three of the teens realized that the voice did not come from them at the same time, their skin growing ghostly pale and their eyes becoming around the same size and shape of dinner plates.

"Not again…. Not now…" Yusuke nearly cried out, feeling vaguely faint though, like any macho idiot just put up more bravado.

"Don't worry, I'm not here to fight," the mystery speaker added tersely.

Now they were looking around almost frantically, not in anyway trusting the voice, though it sounded vaguely male.

"If you're not here to fight, then show yourself," Kurama responded quickly.

Softly, behind them, they could just barely feel someone, a chaotic aura that was paradoxically tranquil. Reluctantly they turned to face him and were floored by what they saw.

Standing calmly in front of them from across the clearing was a man, just as tall a Lucas, though he had none of the terrifying presence. Instead he was simply awe inspiring. His thin, well muscled body was covered in an old pair of jeans that had defiantly seen better days which was firmly affixed just below his hip bones with a black leather belt with a gold clasp in the shape of a wing, the tips made of onyx. Covering his torso was a stiff jacket that appeared to be made of canvas. The collar was wide and rose up to a little past his chin while the sleeves were long and intricate patterns were cut out of the fabric to reveal his tanned, weathered hands and wrists, though the fabric went about a good eight inches past his fingertips. Thick silver buttons kept the jacket closed across his body in military rows and two thick silver bars were affixed across the shoulders like a general of a age long since hence. Large black boots were keeping his feet covered, though they made him appear vaguely like the bought them at the nearest Hot Topic. Though that was not the truly impressive thing about the man, no, it was his face. Perfect in every choice of the word, he managed to in no way look girly, but instead appear like every woman's dream man, a real life Indiana Jones without the fear of snakes or the four o'clock shadow. His eyes were alert, awake and the most perfect, pure color of periwinkle any of the boys had ever seen. Framing his face were wild, chin length bangs, the rest was pulled back away from his face at the nape of his neck with a thick ring of silver and fell evenly just to his knees. Each soft lock was the color of pure gold that glowed gloriously in the light. Adding to the final effect was the impressive sword strapped across his back, the large handle glinting in the light as the moon refused to reflect of the soft straps of cloth tied around criss-cross style in of most swords used in the medieval era.

For an instant, all three Reikai Tentai were speechless as the man walked over, silent as Lucas, his hands shoved deep into the pockets of his jacket.

"So, I've shown myself… still think I'm here to fight?" he asked, cocking an eyebrow at them sardonically.

"Uh, yeah. You still have a weapon," Yusuke replied quickly, wishing with every fiber of his being that the man was being truthful.

"Bit skeptical aren't you? I'm a good guy, does that make sense?"

"You'll forgive us, but we haven't had the best luck with meeting new people as of late. And Yusuke is correct, you do have a weapon," Kurama added, trying to be helpful as usual.

"I carry a weapon because I'm forced to. It's not like I can leave lying around," the man added, a pained yet annoyed expression racing across his perfect features for an instant.

"Still, you don't seem trustworthy," Kuwabara nodded his head along with the statement.

"Oh, sorry for THAT!" the man replied sarcastically as he walked over, stopping first at Kurama. He gently placed a hand against the largest wound on Kurama, a large bruise from one of Lucas' various well planted kicks. Slowly, light began to spread from his hand in oceanic like waves until each injury had returned to it's original unmarred state. As he went to work on Kazuma (he simply ignored Yusuke) the orange haired punk noticed, with slightly confusion, that for an instant, the man appeared to have wings. They disappeared within seconds and even then were nothing more than a soft relief of moonlight, but they seemed, somehow, tainted. Not evil, but not as pure as they could've been either. The man sighed, stepping away from them, making as to leave when he was stopped by Yusuke.

"Hey, why exactly are you doing this?"

Thinking it over, the man looked over and gave sigh that they had often heard Hiei give when presented with another menial mission.

"Because my own boss wanted me too. Personally, I don't care if He kills off a few spirit detectives, but again, by boss does. So…," at this point he spread his arms out in the universal sign of "Here I am".

"That's… comforting…" Kurama looked off before Kuwabara spoke up as soon as the man tried to once again leave.

"Hey, what's your name?"

The man looked casually over his shoulder and responded.

"Gabriel."

"Now THAT is a good bad guy name!" Yusuke cried out, making the man stop, a vein popping out at being, in a way, called a bad guy.

"What?" Gabriel asked, staring almost shocked at the three detectives.

"I'm just sayin'… Lucas is wimpy… Gabriel… yeah, that has a good ring to it!"

Looking off, Gabriel quickly walked away and the spirit detectives went back to their lives, if a bit startled and scared while Lucas sat up in his room, watching old re-runs of t.v shows, zoning out.

Whoever said Evil had the most fun?

-Thanks for bearing with me this far! Another character has been set into the storyline… Wow, can you guess figure out, without a doubt, who Lucas is now? Or do I still have you stumped? How are the lengths of my chapters? Good? Well, onto the review responses.

Sabs- Oh my! Bit upset in this review?

Paperpenguin- Lucas is stereotypical? Well… now that I look back on him, I guess he is… whoops! Though I must admit, he seems to be workin' it pretty well. And goodness, you're comparing it to Good Omens? I'm flattered. Gawd, I love that book!

M0nk3ys wI11 Ru13 th3 w0r1d- Wow… it was awesome? Shuh-weet! And sorry, I hate reading cliffhangers…. But LOVE to write them. Did his chapter live up to your expectations?

Hottytottie90-This is your first response on a…. quiz…? Glad that you feel honored! I like honoring all my reviewers… without you I'd just… feel dumb… Hey, you like cliffhangers? Why not talk to M0nk3ys up there? Can you find more biblical references?

Mirakuru Rein- Oh my…. O.o. Sweet! I love responses like that! You were at the edge of your seat? Well, I was on the edge of my seat writing this… but that's cuz my parents don't know that I type fanfics…. Shhhh…. And no… I've never been one to write fanfics where everybody dies in the end… though it's never to late to try out new things. Well, you're guesses will all be figured out eventually!

Sugar high water uma- Intelligently written? Wow, didja read THAT Sabs! Coolio! I hate doing fight scenes because I'm afraid people won't get what I'm trying to get across! Is this work still awesome?

Niana Kuonji- Ooooh! Pocky? Can I have some? And shall we dance? (looks over to Lucas)

Well… until next chapter, cheerio!


	6. In Which Lucas Makes Friends

-Again I am back to write more of Sympathy. I am sorry to those who the last chapter disappointed and decided to flame e-mail me. It was my own failing as a writer that caused you to write the flame, so my deepest apologies. Thank you to those who did enjoy the story. Also, sorry for the fact that I had to reload the chapter before this… I realized a bit late that the quote was missing! SORRY! (Does a full body bow) Now then, onto the story line…

-One night I demanded of God, "Lord, when are You going to pardon Lucifer?" and God answered, "When he pardons me." – Nikos Kazantzakis

Three days passed. Three perfectly peaceful days passed before Lucas emerged out of the hotel, his mood only slightly improved as he strolled down the street. His body moved lankily, like a cat sulking home without dinner. As usual his attire was warm considering the hot weather of a Japanese summer. A pair of baggy black slacks were resting lowly just under his hip bones with many thick black belts criss crossed over his waist, doing little to keep his pants up but managing to at least look cool. Barely buttoned over his pale skin was a tailored white Oxford shirt with a thin black tie hanging limp around his slender neck. Pulled on hastily was a vest, the collar high around his cheek bones and the hem falling onto the floor when he stood still, though at the moment it was billowing out from behind him like oil. His sleeves were rolled up to reveal a thick black manacle clamped on one wrist while on the other were a mass of silver bangles that clattered noisily as he moved. His hair for once was flowing free about his face which was glaring off, annoyed as ever.

To be honest, he didn't entirely know why he was so upset as he made his way though the streets of Japan and people cleared away without knowing what they were doing. His mood getting slightly worse as the day was once again perfectly wonderful he finally stopped at the park where, only a few nights ago, he had fought the spirit detectives and had to make a hasty leave. As he made his way through the winding, grassy paths he heard a familiar voice.

"Ah, would you mind picking up that book for me?"

Lucas looked down to see that, indeed, there was an ancient looking leather bound tome resting in the grass to his left. Stooping down to pick it up he handed it causally to the speaker.

"You should take better care of your book, Michael. Someday you'll lose one, you know."

The man sighed, leaning back in the chair. It was indeed the man who had stopped his deal with a young woman a few nights back, though he was no longer dressed in the guise of a deli worker. Instead he wore a pair of light baby blue jeans, soft leather sandals and a loose, pale periwinkle t-shirt with an old peace rally advertisement from the 70's on printed on it. Sun glinting off the glasses resting casually on the thin bridge of the man's nose, he didn't look at all threatening as he smiled warmly at Lucas.

"Yes… someday I might lose my books, but until then…" he trailed off, looking away from Lucas with a careless shrug of his shoulders.

"Hmpf, that lackadaisical attitude is going to get you in trouble someday," Lucas replied as Michael began to snigger. "What are you going on about now!" he snapped as the man now burst into full on laughter.

"It's nothing… it's just…" he stopped to calm himself and catch his breath. "… I rarely hear people use that word, 'lackadaisical', anymore. You really need to get out more often!"

"Shaddup. It's not like I get the chance to go vacationing often!" Lucas glared off, getting ready to leave.

"Why not join me? I would like some company, and despite the fact that we're related, Gabriel is never as much fun to talk to as you."

Leaning backwards and folding his arms behind his head, he stared up the sky, though both were so blue it looked instead like his eyes were mirrors, reflecting the heavens down upon him. Before anyone could wax poetic about the man anymore, Lucas sighed, sitting down on the bench, his arms crossed over his chest.

"You act as though WE are not related, dumbass!" he growled, rolling his eyes as Michael started laughing once again, as cheerful as ever.

"True, true. I do apologize. What a glorious day though, hm?"

His mood already foul, being reminded of what a "glorious day" it was certainly wasn't helping. Glaring off at various "happy" things, including the cuddling songbirds, cute couples and the blazingly brilliant sun, he went back to sulking.

"Yes… Glorious…" Lucas snarled.

"Oh, you're always so…" Michael sought the word he was going for and finally settled on one, "…dismal! A real downer, you know!"

A little ways in front of them, children were playing, climbing trees and imagining worlds for them to populate until their parents called them away. One child stood like statue of some old general on the blackened stump of the tree Lucas had killed. Others tackled him off and tried to show that they were indeed the strongest by standing where he did until another friend of theirs shoved them off.

"If I am dismal, it is simply because I have no reason to be cheerful," Lucas replied darkly, watching the kids play their game.

"You have every reason to be cheerful; you simply choose to ignore it!"

"I wonder why…" he trailed off sarcastically as Michael tucked his book away into a soft leather messenger bag.

"You choose to make yourself miserable. Perhaps you should look at the good side of humanity. Take those children ahead of us. They are perfectly innocent, as pure as fresh fallen snow. Enjoy that, rejoice about it," Michael nodded his head to the scene ahead of them, smiling calmly as he pushed his glasses up his nose once more.

"What is there to rejoice about? They will be tainted sure enough, and a few already have sinned. Stealing a sister's toy… breaking a neighbors nose. There is no purity left, yet you still serve them," Lucas replied, chewing on his bottom lip to pass the time, his right shoulder aching it's same, familiar burning throb, reminding him of everything he had lost.

"Because there is hope. Must you always hate these people? Why can you not forgive Him?"

"Because he has not forgiven me.'

With that reply Lucas got out off the bench quickly and stormed off, flicking his hair over his shoulder as he walked off, leaving Michael sitting alone on the bench, still smiling the same bemused smile as ever.

"Funny…" he mused quietly as Lucas disappeared into the crowds on the sidewalk. "He said the same thing about you…"

As he stormed off, his mood, if possible, worse he passed by a house and heard the sounds of someone having more than their fair share of trouble with the groceries. Pausing for a moment he debated on what to do before he turned on his heel and walked over to the woman who was now standing, exasperated, in front of the trunk of her car. She was middle aged, and probably once rather pretty, with heavy scars criss crossing all over her forearms, which were revealed because she had rolled the sleeves of her sweater up past her elbows to ward off the heat.

"Excuse me, ma'am. Are you alright?"

She turned around, surprised and definitely startled as she placed a hand over her heart, as though to steady it. Smiling in relief when she saw that it was a rather kind looking young man she nodded her head.

"Yes… I'm fine," she turned to back to her groceries before sighing, "I should have waited for Suiichi."

"You are having trouble, aren't you?"

Though he would honestly admit to being evil, he was originally a good guy. Sighing, he gave into the "good" side for a while.

"I… well…" the woman looked off and then nodded her head in defeat. "Yes… Yes, I am having trouble."

"Would you mind if I helped?"

She looked off, debating on whether or not to accept the help of a stranger. Deciding to take a good look at him, she noticed that he didn't honestly look like a bad person, and nodded slowly.

"Yes, please. So long as you don't have anything more important to do," she replied gratefully as he walked over to the trunk of her car.

"To be honest, I really don't."

"Are you American?" she asked, looking him over, noticing that his features were vaguely European.

"Hm? I guess you could say that," Lucas replied as he managed to grab a hold of the many paper grocery bags and followed her until she reached the modest kitchen of her house. Unloading the bags he smiled slightly, dusting off his hands even though they were in no way dirty.

"Oh, thank you," the woman bowed politely at him, to which he just smiled.

"No problem. I'm AWOL from my business right now, so this gave me…" Lucas trailed off, trying to figure out just how to put all that back into words.

"A welcome distraction?" she asked, smiling warmly at him as he stretched his body out and smiled at her with that same level of kindness.

"Exactly!" he snapped his fingers to emphasize and grinned at her cheerfully.

Yes, the day was perfect, yes, birds were sings, yes, life was good, but Lucas was ever the type to let such trivial things as listed above ruin his day. His mood far better than it was that morning, he leaned up against the kitchen counter casually, smiling at her, enigmatic as ever.

"Well, again, thank you. You really saved me quite some time," she replied.

"And, again, no problem. Do you need some help putting all these away?" he motioned casually with his hand at the bags, the silver bangles ringing out an energetic little melody.

"I'm fine, I've already asked you for too much," she replied cheerfully, waving him off with her hands.

"Hm? Alright then… Looks like Suiichi is back," Lucas noted, looking over at the door, though as far as the woman could tell, nobody have even knocked.

"Really? I didn't hear a-"

There was a sharp rap at the door, than the sounds of someone inserting a key and stepping in.

"Mother! I'm home! Sorry I'm a bit late, studying ran late!" the voice sounded definitely apologetic as the door clicked shut and there was a heavy thud of a book bag hitting the floor.

"I'm right in here!" the woman called out cheerfully, wiping off her hands on a dishtowel before looking around the fridge. "I should get started on dinner," she muttered.

"Alright! Let me come and help you," he called out.

"That would be my cue to leave you," Lucas said quickly, not willing to see what would happen when her red-haired son would come in and see him.

"Hm, well thank you very much… Though… I don't think you gave me your name!" she exclaimed, making him pause at the doorway.

"Hm? Lucas," he replied, anxious to get away before Suiichi could get any closer. "Uh, what was your name?" He knew he was wasting time saying that, but it was an almost automatic response.

"Shiori."

"Lovely name, really, I must go! Hope you and your, ah, son have a nice day!" he managed to dart through the door and hurry down the stairs, off to somewhere else.

"My, he really WAS in a hurry!" Shiori exclaimed as, in that moment, her son walked in, just in time to see the man's blonde hair whip through the door way…

"THIS IS WHY I DON'T DO GOOD THINGS!" Lucas cried out once he was three blocks away and on a rather deserted street. "DAMMIT! HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO REDEEM MYSELF WHEN THIS KEEPS HAPPENING!"

Panting, his rant over, he finally took the time to look around. Odd, this street really DID look deserted. In fact, it looked like Japan's version of Harlem. That's odd, oh look! People! Sighing, Lucas looked over at the group of people walking ever closer. Was it just him or did they look distinctly Yakuza? Just his luck. Moaning slightly, he thought over, who ever said that people had the devil's luck… he really wanted it back!

"Ah, Hello! I was just passing through… And I'll be leaving, if you'll just excuse me!" Lucas tried to step away when he felt a rather heavy, large hand settle on his arm.

"I don't think so," a scratchy, nasal voice stated calmly, making Lucas bless under his breath.

"Actually, I do think so, and unhand me this instant. They say ugliness isn't contagious, but I don't want to take any chances," Lucas quipped, tugging his arm gently from the man's grasp.

"What if we don't? What are you going to do, pretty boy?" another voice asked and Lucas closed his eyes and counted to ten. Nice easy breathes… Did that ever work on ANYBODY!

"Then you'll regret it," he replied calmly, his voice growing icy as dark crimson flames began to lick up his arm.

Surprised, like any normal person, the men began to flee, running quickly away from the man that had seemed like an easy target.

"I don't think so," Lucas muttered under his breath, flicking the flame covered hand at the men…

"What will you have to drink, miss?"

"Huh?"

"Drink, what will you have to drink?" the young man across the counter was getting annoyed, as though those seconds of re-asking wasted far too much of his valuable time.

"Oh… Just an iced coffee."

"Alright, it'll be ready for you a few moments. Please pay now."

"I KNOW that," she snapped, digging around her purse to find, with some dismay, that she was short a few hundred yen. "Oh crap…"

"Can you pay, or not?" the counter worker asked again, rolling his eyes as he tapped his fingers against the counter.

"Uhm, just a minute," she began to rummage around her purse, furtively praying that she might find that extra bit of change, wishing that she didn't lend that money to Yusuke, he probably spent it on cigarettes anyway.

In the background, someone stepped into line behind her. He was brushing something ashy off the sleeves of his button down shirt and down the hem of his long black vest.

"There's another person behind you, hurry up!"

"Is there a problem?" the man behind her asked, shuffling his feet slightly, getting more of the gray powder off his rather thick shoes.

"Yeah, this girl can't pay!"

"I didn't say I couldn't pay!" she cried out, outraged.

"How much does her drink cost? Ah, does it really matter? I'll pay her drink and mine, I want a cup of coffee, black as night, hot as hell and sweet as sin," the man added quickly, handing over a shiny credit card and taking the girl's money, handing it back over to her.

"Uh… thanks?" the girl looked over surprised, as the man took back his credit card and sighed, waiting for his drink.

"Don't I just really badly need a cup of coffee," he replied quickly, tapping a foot against the floor.

"Oh. Right." That's what Yusuke would have said in that situation.

"Actually, if you want to thank me, how about having that drink with me."

Shocked, she looked him over. He was definitely older than her, in fact, he looked like he should be a college student.

"And it's not a date, or anything, I don't go for younger girls, trust me. I'm bored and would like some company," he added hastily, holding up his hands as though trying to ward off the rather wary expression on her face.

"Really?" she cocked an eyebrow at him, skeptical.

"Yeah, really. Besides, you look like you could at least hold on a conversation," he added, waving a hand nonchalantly as the girl noticed that the café was oddly quiet.

"Mmmm…. Alright, I guess," she sighed, taking her drink as the barista handed it over to her quickly.

"Good, there's a table outside," he motioned for them to step out onto the street where small, quaint metal place settings were scattered around.

"Good luck, they're all full," the barista warned, rolling his eyes as, regardless of what they had just been warned, the two quickly walked out and, sure enough, there was a table waiting.

"Wow, what luck!" the girl exclaimed while the man next to her laughed.

"Truly, luck has nothing to do with it. What exactly is your name?" he asked, gently pulling out the chair for her.

"Oh, Keiko Yukimura, uh, thanks," she sat down in the chair as he pushed it back in for her and handed her the napkin.

"No problem," he replied quickly, taking a seat himself and blowing gently on the coffee.

"Wow… you've got manners you normally don't see everyday," she mused, taking a sip of her own drink.

"Hm, comes with the job."

"What kind of job?"

"Trading… uh, I'm a stock broker!" Lucas sighed; it wasn't exactly a lie… was it?

"Hm… Well, just be careful. I hear there are a lot of suicides in that business," she replied thoughtfully, looking off down the street.

"You don't know the half of it," Lucas muttered off, smiling slightly at the inside joke. She looked over at him, oddly worried.

"Did you know someone who did?"

"Hm? Oh, not exactly… I've just dealt with a lot of it," he replied, oddly cool about a rather depressing subject.

"Oh."

"Sorry, this isn't exactly "dinner conversation," he apologized, taking another sip of his drink and smiling at her rather endearingly.

Smiling back at him she looked over the rim of her own drink and replied, "Well, this isn't exactly 'dinner', now is it?"

Laughing, Lucas leaned back in his chair and pushed his hair out of his face. Though he wouldn't admit it out loud, this was actually an engaging conversation.

"No, I suppose not, though for some people it might as well be," he said, waving his hand at some of the rather beatnik people filling the area.

Rolling her eyes, Keiko decided not to answer that statement, instead seeking refuge in finishing off her drink.

"Oh my, it seems I've frustrated you. What are you doing here anyway, meeting someone?" he asked, swirling the contents of his cup absentmindedly with a straw.

There was a groan, "Sort of."

"Hm? Sort of? What exactly do you mean by that?" he asked, cocking his head playfully at her.

"Well, I _am_ waiting for someone… but I don't really have to because he's always late anyway," she finished, shaking her head slightly in disgust.

"Oh? Then why bother to come on time?"

"Because, unlike him, I was brought up with manners and have long since learned to expect the unexpected with him," she droned, giving the same answer she gave all her friends when they asked _the same bloody question_.

"Well, manners are becoming an endangered species now-a-days… I don't really know what to expect anymore," Lucas added, sighing slightly and seeming vaguely like an old man remorseful over the death of a long since lost age.

"Well even _you'd_ be surprised by _this_ guy."

"I doubt that. In my line of work, I've seen ALL the bad guys. Things have honestly stopped shocking me."

Taking a deep breath, Keiko decided not to say anymore, fully intent on thanking him for the coffee and "finding" her friend.

"Of course, there is more hope than you'd expect… I do believe I sound like an old man!" Lucas cried out in shock, surprising her.

Laughing, she tried to figure out just what it was about this man. He honestly didn't act like anybody she knew.

"Better that way; younger people don't hold as good a conversation."

"True… but you seem to be holding up quite well."

"Thank you… Ah! Well there is Yusuke!" she cried out, standing up quickly.

"WHO?" Lucas looked around quickly, afeared that the overzealous Spirit Detective might ACTUALLY attack him IN BROAD DAYLIGHT!

"Oh, Yusuke, the friend I was waiting for… the one with the bad manners," she added the last part off-handishly, waving energetically at her friend.

As she looked back, Lucas was gone. In fact, it looked as though he had never been there. She was starting to wonder if she really had gone crazy as Yusuke made his way over, already apologizing for being late…. Again…

Off down the street, Lucas was currently banging his forehead against a wall. Would his luck ever change? He was going to personally hunt down the bastard who took his freakin' luck, and kill him. As slowly and sadistically as possible.

"Hey… got a cigarette?"

Yup.

His luck would NEVER change.

-Tren: ALRIGHT! That part is over… thanks to none other than SABS! Who is… chewing on my shoulder? Ouch.

Aillas: Uh… she getting closer to your neck now…. I think you might need shots,.

Sabs: (Fwaps Aillas and continues to gnaw on Tren)

Aillas: Well, Sabs is… gone? WHERE'D SHE GO? (Searches around frantically)

Tren: Back to whence she came… (Looks off ominously as the lighting dims)

Aillas: Well, it's around time to answer those fantastic reviewers!

Tren: That's right… ready?

Aillas: To HottieTottie90: Quizilla too much on your brain?

Tren: Don't worry, happens all the time to me! And no… Gabriel is not a Fallen Angel.

Aillas: But close enough.

Tren: To Shadowcat: Thank you for telling me about the chapter lengths… how is this one?

Aillas: How did Kurama seem OC?

Tren: And… not that bad? Ouch… sorry!

Aillas: Oh… and sorry our fight scenes aren't that dramatic… but only "understandable?"

Tren: Alright. Thank you very much!

Aillas: to sugar high water uma: Yes. You got who Gabriel is!

Tren: You win the washer dryer combo!

Aillas: And yes, if you couldn't tell, Tren LOVES to write out detailed outfits.

Tren: And… (Pulls over microphone) Drool clean up on chapter 5! Drool clean up!

Aillas: To Niana Kuonji: Gabriel is supposed to be insane? Whoa… didn't know that!

Tren: And what was God thinking let him out of heaven… why don't we ask GOD?

Aillas: God… why did you let Gabriel out of heaven?

GOD THE ALMIGHTY: Huh? (looks up from video game system)

Aillas: That is your answer.

Tren: Sorry to any this offended. And OH! THAT Pocci! I love those little fish! C'mere Gabe… give me some of that sweet stuff!

Aillas: and to Pyscho anime luver:

Tren: YAY! SWEET

Aillas: That is the last bit of the reviews

Tren: Thank you so much reading this and please, review! See you next time!

Aillas: Cheerio!


	7. In Which He Runs

Aillas: Hello to anybody crazy enough to read this.

Tren: It is greatly appreciated.

Aillas: But considering that you are most like insane too… you probably don't care.

Tren: (glare) Stop being rude.

Aillas: Well, once again, Tren has brought me in as her muse.

Tren: Because all my other muses are busy.

Aillas: Sure. You're just saying that.

Tren: No! Really! Between that and working on the script for my comic, I'm totally screwed.

Aillas: Oh yes. The comic. She's obsessed.

Tren: Can I really help it?

Aillas: Yes. Yes you can.

Tren: AUGH! Doesn't matter, let's get onto the story.

Aillas: Yes, lets!

-Satan; so call him now, his former name is heard no more in heaven- John Milton

Smoking has been said, often, to be dangerous for one's health. Considering that it has been proven using White Mice that they do, indeed cause lung cancer and other side affects like coughing, bad smell and death. Of course, this never worried Lucas, as he knew one thing that had been kept secret by the medical community for years. Everything gives white mice cancer. Even though he knew this, Lucas had decided to give up smoking. Three days so far. Good progress. Longest he'd gone so far though he was beginning to feel that nagging at the back of his mind.

"Got a cigarette?" the voice asked. Where was his luck?

"Yeah," Lucas muttered, shoving his hand into his empty pocket to pull out a fresh pack, materialized out of nothing. Casually flicking out one out, he handed it over to the speaker, who took it quickly, sliding it out between his fingers. There was the sound of rummaging before a sigh was issued and it spoke again.

"Got a light?"

"Yeah," again he shoved his hand into his pocket, made a lighter and handed it over once more as the person flicked it open and lit it up.

"Y'know, you didn't have to do that," the voice drawled as Lucas tapped his forehead against the wall once more.

"Well, those things tend to work better when they're lit," he replied, closing his eyes as he tried it resist wanting a smoke of his own. Who was this person? They ask for a light and then say "You didn't need to do that"? Had common decency gotten so low since he had last visited?

"Nah, I mean you didn't have to make that lighter."

"It's really noth….. ing….?" It had suddenly struck Lucas just what exactly the speaker had said. Considering he was staring down at the concrete walkway, he knew very little about her. All he really knew was this place was probably a favorite hang out for people to smoke, as what could only have been the results of three years of chain-smoking between breaks had accumulated in the gutter below. Closing his eyes to focus, he got a picture of the speaker in his mind.

It came rather like an old T.V coming into focus. A young woman, not entirely an adult yet, though her face had the rather world weary expression that usually only came with age. Mousy, long brown hair fell softly around her face, her bangs hanging just past her eyebrows and bored, tawny eyes. The freshly lit cigarette was held casually between her fingers with the expertise of years of practice. Hanging down from her neck and tied firmly behind her waist was an apron proclaiming to any who happened to read Japanese (and in Japan that is pretty much everybody) that she worked at a hair salon. She was probably on break right now, wasting her time with ruining her lungs, a preferred pastime of many humans. Softly, the name drifted to the top of Lucas' mind.

"What are you implying?" he asked, looking up at her, eye narrowed dangerously into the slits, trying to give her the benefit of the doubt be realizing he'd never been good at that to begin with.

"I'm just sayin', you didn't have to make that lighter," she restated as though it was obvious and he really shouldn't waste his breath with questions like that. Though… it's not like he really had breath to begin with…

"And how were you supposed to smoke you cigarette?" Lucas rolled his eyes, straightening up his back and running one hand self consciously through his hair.

"Dunno… pretty sure you could've thought of something," she replied, her demeanor perfectly cool, as though she seemed to say "I've seen more than you ever will be punk, just try and surprise me".

"Are you implying that I have magic powers? This is not a comic, nor am I a street performer," Lucas shot back, straightening his clothing to get some of the more undignified wrinkles out before cross his arms over his chest.

"It's not… but you do," she replied cryptically as she looked calmly up at the man. He was tall, she'd give him that, and his clothing looked expensive and depressing. Currently he was looking down at her with an imperious expression that probably wasn't his fault it was just his nature, but it still made her want to smile.

"Obscure. I hate people who are obscure," he muttered, running a hand through his hair again, letting it trail down his neck and linger on one shoulder for just a second longer than anything else before deciding it was better to tuck his hands into his pockets though he was longing to take a cigarette from the pack he made and light up.

"Go ahead," she held said pack out to him and he realized the longing must have been evident on his face.

"I've been trying to quit."

"So?"

There was a bit of a standoff for a second before Lucas sighed and grabbed the pack, flicking one out before tossing the rest back at her. Not even bothering to ask for the lighter, he guessed she already guessed he wasn't human, oh how he hated psychics. Therefore, he had not qualms in having it light itself on his way to his mouth and relished in the long, impossibly deep drag.

"See."

Glaring at her, he decided it would just be better to give in. Leaning his shoulder casually against the alley wall, he sighed, letting the smoke loose from his lips with a sort of grace that the young woman had never seen before.

"At least you didn't say 'told you so'," Lucas reasoned, then gave her a warning look as if to say, "and don't get any ideas."

"So then, what are you? You certainly aren't human and I get the feelin' that you won't take to kindly to being called a demon."

True to her 'feelin' upon being even compared to a demon, Lucas nearly choked on his own smoke before settling himself, his appearance seemed a little messier and definitely miffed. Giving a throaty laugh he smoothed out his clothing once more, finishing it off with the rather trademark once-over on his hair.

"Yes, yes I would," he was still chuckling a bit to himself before he once again took a soothing draw from the cigarette, letting the smoke leak out slowly this time from between pursed lips. "You're a bit blunt, aren't you?"

"I've been told so."

The answer was so matter-of-fact, Lucas guessed that the had, indeed, been informed of this trait often, probably by someone close… her… brother? He focused a little hard absentmindedly and sure enough, his hunch was right. But then again, when had they been wrong?

"Well, nothing wrong with being blunt, though it's an odd mix considering how cryptic you were a moment ago, it's rather amusing," he looked off, feeling the beginning of a presence. It felt… orange, as if that was anyway to describe it. Looking up suddenly, he immediately stood and heard her speak.

"My idiot little brother's coming," she noted, looking over her shoulder even though nobody was in sight yet.

"I know, have a lovely day, Chizuru," Lucas did a quick little bow before doing a off handed little salute and darting off, calling over his shoulder, "Nice meeting you!" With that he was gone.

"Sister! Have you been smoking?" came the familiar, rough voice of her brother as he gave her an exasperated look while she gave him that bored expression and replied, nonchalantly with, "So?"

While the lecture came to a standstill, pretty much like always, Lucas was currently darting away, unaware of where exactly he was leaving to when he found himself pretty much in the middle of a thick forest with no clue where on the earth he was. Of course, it wasn't as though he thought he had wandered off he face of the earth and he was pretty sure he was still somewhere in Japan. As if to add to the mood, the skies began to darken and a sudden summer rain fell from the sky, surprising anybody unlucky enough to be outside.

"Oh God bless," Lucas moaned, looking up at the roiling grey clouds. Where was the ambiance when he needed it? Now it came and he was lost and unimpressive, his clothes hanging rather heavily from rain water. Unlike everybody else hit with the rain, Lucas did not run. There was no shelter nearby, why exert oneself?

Then, like out of some old samurai movie a wall loomed in the distance, with a large gate. Impressive, if he knew who it was guarding… or was it designed to keep people out? Never mind that, Lucas could feel the water dripping down his back, face… well… it was uncomfortable to say the least. Taking a few steps back he took a vaulting leap over the wall and landed lightly on the ground to the other side to see a… house? Could one even consider it a house?

It didn't matter. He was cold, wet and praying that it was empty and there was that nagging feeling of a demon… But nothing else. One lone demon he could handle easily enough, though if it decided to bring friends he might just have some trouble.

Spying the door, Lucas moved over quickly to slid it open, amused at the rather traditional style of the house before getting a fleeting touch of the residual aura that slowly oozed off and made Lucas grow rather pale. _HER_. It wasn't as though he was afraid, more like wary, but he found himself to be grateful that the only person left was a demon. Poking his head in before entering completely from the rough weather outside, Lucas sighed happily, just happy to be out of the weather outside. That's when he heard a small voice.

"Genkai? Is that you?" it was a sweet voice, rather melodic with an almost breathless quality. Oddly, it reminded Lucas of the damsel in distress kind of character in a bad RPG. Dismissing it as his own rather rambunctious imagination he turned to face the speaker, surprised to see what appeared to be a young girl.

"OH!" she put her hands gently to her bottom lip, her eyes widening in surprise before settling back to their normal size, still rather large and startlingly innocent. "You're not Genkai!"

"No, that is not my name," Lucas replied calmly, trying vaguely to appear at least somewhat cool, though knowing the limp, wet hair and soaked clothes ruined any chance he may of ever had.

"What are you doing here?"

"I was wandering and got lost in the forest. I just so happened to stumble by here… I didn't know it was inhabited. I'll leave to you, miss," he bowed his head ever so slightly, turning to the door with a resigned sigh before he heard her speak up again.

"No! I mean, it's raining outside and…" she trailed off and Lucas smirked. Got her where he wanted her.

It wasn't as though he wanted anything out of her, just a place to stay out of the rain. With this prospect now hanging in the air, Lucas turned around slowly, pivoting on his left foot to smile at her warmly and rubbing his hands together, the subconscious way people hinted that they were cold, though Lucas had never thought of it as a problem and often wondered what this "cold" felt like.

"Well, miss, if you insist, I wouldn't complain. The rain should stop soon, I hope," Lucas bowed his head, letting his blond hair, now lank, fall past his shoulders and face, hiding his eyes like curtain.

"Are you cold?" she ventured, taking a few steps closer to him before she stopped herself, as though reminding herself to keep her distance from a stranger.

"Not entirely, though this wind is getting nasty," he replied graciously as she motioned for him to follow her into what appeared to be a kitchen, though rather "old world".

"I was making tea, just in case," she motioned to, sure enough, a tea kettle poised to whistle.

"Just in case of what? A stranger dropped by out of the rain that had yet to begun?" Lucas asked, cocking an eyebrow as he sat down on one of the small mats placed around the rather low table. The girl blushed before looking off and shaking her head.

"Well… I thought my friend Kazuma might like some, and he said he'd stop by," she replied in that sweet, innocent voice that, despite himself, Lucas found rather… irritating.

As she walked over to close the door, he got a good look at her. She was pretty, in the little girl sort of way, with an honest, open face that seemed incapable of holding lies or even the slightest deceitful thought. Large eyes, of a rather ruddy color, seemed to peer out from under thick lashes in a perpetual state of surprise. Rather unique teal hair was pulled away demurely from her face and her small form was covered in a rather plain Kimono. Plain… but elegant in its simplicity.

Oh, what a gem she'd be for his collection… Shaking his head to clear the thought out, Lucas sighed, getting up as his long legs were always prone to cramping when sitting lotus style. Walking over, he could tell the kettle was going to whistle, waited for barely a second before the beginnings of the shrill cry began to echo when the girl rushed over to remove it.

"I got it," Lucas replied calmly, more eager to stop the noise than anything else as he gently plucked it off and rested the bottom neatly on the palm of his hand. It sat there for a few seconds before he became aware that the girl (he suddenly realized he didn't know her name) was staring at him, almost as though expecting something.

"Are you alright?" she asked, timidly, looking at the hand the kettle rested on.

"Yes, of course... oh… blessed be," Lucas muttered, suddenly realizing just what he had done with the rather hot holder of boiling water, commonly referred to as a tea pot. "I'm fine, let me put this down first and I'll show you."

Spying a small, metal dais to place the pot upon, he let it rest gently, careful to make sure it wouldn't tip before holding up his long, pale hands, free of any burn mark. Wiggling his fingers quickly to make his point he smiled kindly at her.

"See? No burns."

"Oh…" the girl nodded her head, like this made total sense, which confused Lucas before he sat down and sighed.

"What exactly is your name?"

True, he could just think about it and know, but oddly… this felt more personal. It was a dubious feeling to begin with, this "personal" but considering his bad luck with conversations in that one day alone, Lucas decided that, perhaps, it wouldn't be too bad to try it out for once.

"Yukina."

"Hm… pretty name. Who exactly did you say you were waiting for?" he asked absentmindedly as he noticed that various woodland creatures seemed to have taken a liking to her, such as birds and, on the odd occasion, cats. Though he had no clue how they had arrived in the room, he could guess through the only still open window, he didn't care. Idly scratching one curious kitten that had clamored for his attention under the chin, he looked off, waiting for her reply.

"Kazuma, he's a friend of mine and he often stops by… though usually waits until Genkai is gone," Yukina mused the last part, smiling as though it was endearing and not an act of fear of a rather tough old psychic.

"Kazuma… Kuwabara?"

That would be just his luck.

"Hm? Yes, do you know him?"

Yup. Just his luck. Sighing, Lucas looked down at the grey tabby that was contentedly purring against his gentle fingers.

"You could say so," he replied calmly, letting his slender fingers rub against the cat's chin as it clamored for his attention.

"Are you friends?"

"Hardly," Lucas laughed as he felt the tabby's wet nose push against his chin.

"Oh… I'm sorry."

"Don't, it's not your fault…" Lucas trailed off as he felt that damnable ningen's energy. Kazuma had broken up two fine conversations in one day. That must be a record. "The rain has ceased, and so must I. Have a lovely day," as he got up he placed the kitten gently on the seat he had occupied and mimed tipping a hat to her before heading off once more just in time to miss Kazuma.

"What a perfectly miserable day…" he muttered, and oddly this fact did not help his mood as he stalked off into the forest to stumble across a young woman with baby blue hair and pink eyes dressed in a Kimono and holding an oar.

"Ah, Botan, darling, what are you doing here?" he cried out, causing the young woman to start and turn around to see Lucas step out from behind a few trees, a pastime that many a bad guy seemed to enjoy.

"LUCI-" she managed to cry out before Lucas held up his hand and shook his head.

"That idiot of a boss of yours told them my name was Lucas. It's stuck," he jutted in, shaking his head, "I tell you, he has half a brain… now if you came and worked for me…. What is wrong with you now?"

Sure enough, Botan was staring at him; her head cocked to one side as she looked him over and wrinkled her nose.

"Lucas? That's not exactly imposing, is it?" she wondered out loud as Lucas twitched.

"No. It's not. Can we move past this?"

"Weeellll…. I mean, it's just that you've ALWAYS been imposing…. And now you're… actually… funny!"

"Funny?" cocking an eyebrow at her he shook his head and sighed. "Alright, that would be my cue to leave…"

"Awwww…" Botan whined, making a distressed face, "Don't go! I wanted to ask you something! Have you seen a few Yakuza souls?"

"Oh…" Lucas looked off, remembering those idiots in the alley. "I… took care of them. Nothing to retrieve."

"Wow, did they upset your or something?" she asked, cocking her head cutely at him before making a face, "Or did they find out your name's Lucas and laugh?"

Twitching, Lucas simply growled and walked off, "Take care, Botan."

There was another disappointed whine as he walked off; decided he needed to pay a certain short demon a visit…

Tren: Sabs is evil.

Aillas: She's still upset her friend had abandoned her in her hour of need.

Tren: PRE-cisely.

Aillas: You TOLD me to say that.

Tren: Feels better though to hear someone else agree with your views.

Aillas: Are you going to rant about her in EVERY story you write?

Tren: Yes. You should have known the answer to that.

Aillas: Yes… I suppose I should have…

Tren: Gr…..

Aillas: (uncomfortable) How about we respond to those reviews?

Tren: Sure… fine… whatever…

-sugar high water uma: Where do I find all the big words? Uh… I just love words and I read the dictionary two years back… (no joke) See, he's met up with Yukina! Just as you guessed! Good job, you get a Lucas plushie (hands you plushie)

-Niana Kuonji: Yes… Lucas needs Kohl… maybe with his next outfit! Oooh! Now I wanna give him earrings! (laughs) see the monster you've created!

-psyco anime luver: Uh… thanks?

-hottytottie90: Yeah, these chapter seem to be getting fluffier, and it's all about developing Lucas' character! (snickers) yeah… you really can't call "Lucas" diabolic!

Aillas: Right… until next chapter

Tren: Cheerio!


	8. In Which Lucas Enters A Church

Tren: Well, hello there to all you people!!

Aillas: They're called readers.

Tren: I KNOW THAT!!

Aillas: Freak.

Tren: So we're back to this story, the lovely little ditty about Lucas.

Aillas:… ditty….??... (worried)

Tren: What?? What's wrong with ditty?

Aillas: I can't take it anymore…

Tren: Hey… (suddenly proud of herself) little…. Ditty… they both have double T's!!

Aillas: …..

Tren: Cool! They almost rhyme!

Aillas: How much sugar have you had?

Tren: Only three sodas!!

Aillas: That would explain a few things… how about we move onto the story??

Tren: YAY!! (runs off at hyperspeed)

Aillas: Onto the storyline….

-An apology for the devil; it must be remembered that we have only heard one side of the case. God has written all the books- Samuel Butler

Clichés are often found in horror movies. The haunted church, the possessed little girl who can climb walls like some kind of freakish gecko, bats flying around at the arrival of the bad guy and those cheesy one liners. While most evil bad guys welcome such "old chestnuts", per say, there was one who hated it. Why? Because all those truisms started with him. It was all cool until people started to copy him, then next thing you knew, everybody was doing it and then it just became pathetic. This said person was currently in Japan, failing at getting some rest and relaxation, and at that moment under the alias of the name Lucas.

Currently, he was sitting inside a church, leaning back in an old wooden pew, his feet kicked up on the backrest of the seating in front of him. It was the only catholic church in the city, with a simple design that didn't boast much besides a steeple and a modest congregation. His arms crossed behind his head, he was currently staring at the crucifix nailed to the wall, (oh what a pun), his clear, icy blue eyes staring ahead with that same intensity, straight at the face of the savior, those carved eyes staring blankly ahead.

The choir could be heard practicing in the background, in some other room, their voices echoing eerily off the walls, the noise barely hindered by the tapestries scattered throughout. Heavy footfalls echoed off through the building before a man stopped at Lucas' pew.

"Would you mind keeping your feet off our furniture?" came the smooth voice in a quiet tone, as though he was trying to not break the fragile peace that had filled the church.

"I wouldn't really call this furniture, it isn't all the comfortable. Hell, I'm willing to bet that sitting here through an entire mass is enough to repent for each and every one of those sins," Lucas drawled, not budging an inch as he still stared up at the figure of Christ.

"If these pews became comfortable, people might fall asleep. And we'd like to keep them in good condition, so please remove your feet, my child," the speaker sighed and Lucas gave an odd sort of laugh.

"You should not have to make sitting painful to keep your congregation interested," Lucas reached down under the seat to find that there were bibles contained in small shelves under the wood. Pulling out of the thick, hard back tomes, he held it up in front of his face, flicking through the pages one handed.

"Sadly, religion is not as interesting as it once was," the man chuckled as Lucas tossed the bible behind him.

"Bah, same of predictable storyline," he muttered, "And when religion ruled the world, it was called the dark ages. You should remember that."

"Perhaps you have not read the bible enough to learn its meanings," the man offered, and Lucas groaned.

"Save it, Padre, and it wouldn't matter how many times I read that book, I already have it committed to my memory."

"Then you must be very dedicated to Catholicism to have it all memorized," the man admitted, "Far more than I, though I hate to admit it."

Slowly looking over his shoulder, Lucas took a look over the other half of his conversation. He was a deacon, probably in his mid to upper thirties. Well groomed, he was Japanese, his black hair just starting to gray at the temples and was cut short, his bangs falling softly around his face. Square glasses hid his dark eyes, the candle light reflecting off them as he pressed them up his nose. Dressed in a pair of khaki slacks and a loose red button down shirt, a cross was hanging from a chain around his neck and resting against the cloth. A wedding ring glinted from one finger.

"Nothing to be ashamed of, that book is tedious, wordy and biased," Lucas waved his hand, the chain bracelets clashing together against the black manacle still clamped against his pale skin.

"How is it biased?" the deacon asked, leaning up against the back of the pew, cocking an eyebrow at the man.

"You only hear one side," Lucas replied, pushing his hair out of his eyes and sighing.

"And whose side is the bible missing?" the man asked, looking over the man cautiously. He didn't look frightening, dressed in a crisp black suit, silver grey vest and white oxford shirt, and undone silk tie hanging limply from his neck. In fact, the man's skin was so pale he seemed to glow in the candle light, giving off little warmth, his soft blonde hair pulled way from his face neatly into a ponytail, tied with a thin ribbon so dark, the man swore that it could have been made of pure shadow. Slowly, the man looked over, a cool grin spreading across his perfect features and the deacon couldn't help but shiver. The man's blue eyes suddenly seemed to glow, and though he didn't know if it was his imagination or if it was real, but he could have sworn that the man's pupil's were black flames, blazing with a kind of anger.

"What side is the bible missing, you ask? Mine," Lucas laughed, his eyes burning with amusement before he looked back at the crucifix. "Do you know what's droll? Every time people see that figure, they revere it, they worship Jesus Christ… but the moment they see somebody like him on the street, begging for change, they guard their purses and ignore him. How hypocritical."

A chill spread through the deacon, as he stared in horror at the man before him. It made sense now, who this figure was, why he seemed to glow and he suddenly felt way over his head. Clutching at the cross at his neck, he wanted to leave, but felt compelled to stay.

"That silly trinket of yours, that necklace has no power over me, so don't make a fool of yourself. And before you scream at me that Christ compels me, I'm not here to anything but relax and listen to the choir rehearse," Lucas returned his smoldering gaze back to figure nailed upon the cross and sighed.

"You should not be able to even enter," the man replied defensively, crossing his arms at the dark clad man lounging next to him.

"Bah, what did you expect, the church to fall apart? The pews to crack, the crucifix to fall upside down, the statues to cry blood?? Would that make you happy? Personally, it would just make a miserable mess, and WHO would clean it?" he asked, looking rather frankly at the deacon. "Would you clean it, Fujitaka?"

Surprised, the man visibly started. Smoothing his clothes a bit, it didn't keep him from being a bit scared.

"Did you think I wouldn't know your name? I know everything about you," Lucas droned, waving his hand modestly.

"Should I be honored or scared?" Fujitaka joked, trying to ease his terror with a light humor.

"Neither really, I know that you have a scar in the middle of your left knee because you fell off your bike when you were late to class in the tenth grade. I know that you still have the holes in your ears from those piercing in college, which is why you keep your hair just shaggy enough to hide them."

"What don't you know??" he laughed,

"Not much, you're even wear red underwear, boxer briefs, which is rare because you find them uncomfortable, but they were you last pair and your wife is currently doing the laundry at home," Lucas added airily.

"Why do you know so much?"

"Because I have to… You don't seem as afraid as you used to, care if I ask why? I build my rep upon being terrifying, so your input would be greatly appreciated."

"You don't seem to be that frightening… I understand who you are, but there's something… sad about you," the man sighed, shaking his head as Lucas made a face.

"Bah…," his nose wrinkled in distaste, he sighed and ran his hands through his smooth hair. "What do I have to be sad about?"

"Perhaps because you fell from grace?" the man ventured playfully, before pushing himself off the back of the pew and straightening his clothes.

"Hm… think whatever you might like," Lucas shrugged, "Have a lovely day, Fujitaka."

The Deacon left, hands clasped behind his back, heading out to his car to drive back home and see his wife. Left sitting in those uncomfortable benches, Lucas for once felt speechless. What was with him?? Was he losing his touch? Where were those good old days when a mere mention of his true name could strike fear into the hearts of every person, God fearing or not? Now look at him, sitting in a church, not even able to scare a Deacon. To be honest, he blamed television. All the violence and crap, and what's worse, all those shows that gave any idiot with a cross and some holy water the idea that they too could take him on.

Whose idea was that!?

Oh… that's right… it was his…

"What are you looking at!?" he spat at the carved crucifix, glowering off until his eyes settled on the candles burning at the altar. Odd, most churches used the battery powered ones now. It seemed rather funny to him now to see the old styles still alive and kicking.

"If you're expecting a response, it won't come. They've turned a deaf ear on you," a voice replied sharply, making Lucas turn around to see that the man who interrupted his fight with spirit detectives was standing the doorway. Golden hair pulled back away from his perfect face, his eyes smoldered, and the color was something that couldn't really be described, as all mortal words failed. Dressed in a soft cream long sleeve shirt and khaki pants, he didn't look as imposing as he had in the forest, what with the jacket and sword gone, the kick arse boots replaced by sensible, dark brown dress shoes.

"What a horrible change of clothes for you," Lucas lamented playfully, rather like cat would to its prey. He had already tempted this creature before; he could do it again, this time with far more success.

"Unlike some people, I choose not to stick to the melodramatic outfits unless I'm working," he replied, his cutting through the silence like a warm knife through butter, only smoother, making Lucas shiver slightly, as though he could feel the ripples resonating from each word.

"How is it melodramatic when I am the origin of it all? This is merely who I am," Lucas replied humbly, bowing, his arms stretched out to put himself on display, though his cold eyes never left the perfect specimen in that doorway.

"And who are you today?" that voice making Lucas sigh in enjoyment and agony, each word pure enough to make his back ache heavily, along with the rest of him.

"Simply myself."

"What alias are you doing on now? Louis Cypher last time I met you. When will you give up, we know you are in pain from your deeds."

"While it might pain me to do evil, it is better than serving for eternity. I do believe one human wrote "Tis better to rule in Hell than Serve in Heaven". Couldn't put it better myself. I suggest you leave or you might just put me in a bad mood," Lucas snarled the last part, though he knew if it came down to a fight, he would beat the man hands down, though the term "man" was used lightly. No… the thing in the doorway was far more…

"What a sad creature you have become," the man muttered, looking down upon him rather superciliously before turning around to leave.

"And what a pathetic messenger boy _you've _become," Lucas responded harshly as the man's aura diminished as he walked away, unfazed by anything around him. Spreading his own spiritual force a little more, rather defensively, he glared off, inadvertently making every prayer candle snuff out. Looking out through the stain glass windows he frowned slightly. The world was asleep, unaware that he was currently in their country. Perhaps it was better that way.

"What are you doing here?" a sharp voice asked him, breaking the silence and Lucas was surprised to have found out that he had been spacing out for quite a while as the church was now empty and dark. Not even bothering to look over Lucas smiled slightly.

"Hiei, what are you doing in a church?"

"Shouldn't I be asking you that question?" came the response, curt as usual.

"I do my best work in churches," Lucas replied loftily, tapping his long fingers against the colored glass depicted the Virgin Mary receiving the news that she is to carry the savior. Jesus Christ on a freakin' cracker.

"You disgust me."

"I do that to a lot people… Of course, where would you be without me??" Lucas trailed off the last part, knowing he didn't need to continue for his point to be seen.

"…"

"Cat got your tongue?? Don't act like you got here all on your own," he continued, letting his fingers linger on the glass and watching the frost spread from the tip of each pale finger, his body drawing away any warmth.

"This skill is my own."

"Whatever helps you sleep at night. Imagine my surprise to find that you, the all powerful Hiei, yet you owe me so much," his voice was almost like a purr, his fingers leaving frost against the glass. Despite popular belief he wasn't all fire and brimstone, and his hands always retained all the warmth of a cadaver.

"…" There was silence and he could imagine the hatred in the small demon's red eyes but it really didn't matter to Lucas who started to blow out the candles one by one, each offered in prayer.

"Imagine my surprise to run into your friends, I don't think they like me very much," he drawled, trying to keep on a pleasant conversation as the lights began to dim and the church closed for the night.

"I wonder why."

"I have never been a bad guy… after all, evil is completely relative. You can't say I don't have my reasons. Of course, it's not like I got to tell my side of the story in the book they wrote… rubbish, really," he shook his head in disgust and then realized that there were no more candles lit besides the one stating that holy sacrament was still in church.

"To be honest, I never really get my side out, ever. Humans try… and fail, but what the hell, that's all they ever seem to do."

"Try?"

"No. Fail."

Tren: Alright, writers block has consumed my dreary mind. Sorry it took so long to post this, so… yeah….

Aillas: She's lost all inspiration. (shakes head) Shame, really.

Tren: (Glares) And WHAT were you doing, oh muse of mine?!?

Aillas: (rolls eyes) Do you really expect me to be an enthusiastic muse?? You abuse me.

Tren: YOU CAN'T DIE!! YOU CANT CLASSIFY THAT AS ABUSE!!

Aillas: Oh yes I can!

Tren: Let's just answer those reviews!!!

Aillas: Yes, lets.

-Niana Kuonji: Yes, he was getting along with Shizuru but Kuwabara will always be the bungling idiot who gets in the way. And you'll see how much better he's feeling next chapter once he's had his fun with Hiei. He's juuuuuuuuust started, and yes… drowned rat would describe him adequately.

-Sugar High Water Uma: Why are you calling the Lucas plushie Bob? And thanks, I thought it flowed pretty well myself too!

Psyco Anime Luver: Wow… you almost feel bad!! Sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet.

Sinor: YAY!!! I love that song myself and just had to make a fanfic dedicated, in a way, to it.

Sabs: Right.

Tren: So let me know, did I do well on this chapter??

Aillas: Or should she re-write and submit it??

Tren: If possible, any suggestions??

Aillas: Thanks and cheerio until the next chapter!!


End file.
